Approximately 20 Exelon employee volunteers and 20 students from Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy joined Friends of the Parks on Saturday, April 16, to give Humboldt Park a spring cleaning as part of a companywide observance of National Volunteer Week and Earth Day, which is April 22.

Volunteers and students spread mulch, planted shrubs and trees, and picked up trash and litter throughout the park.  This was the first year students from Rowe-Clark Academy, located in Chicago’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood, participated in the annual service project.

“Exelon is proud to join its longtime partner, Friends of the Parks, in its citywide program to clean up Chicago’s natural spaces for Earth Day,” said project leader Ruth Ann Gillis, executive vice president and chief administrative and diversity officer, Exelon, and president, Exelon Business Services Company.  “This is a wonderful opportunity for our employee volunteers to work with local students, encourage giving back to the community, and promote environmental stewardship.”

The event was one of more than 80 community service projects Exelon employee volunteers are leading in observance of National Volunteer Week. More than 1,200 Exelon employees, family members and friends are providing approximately 5,000 hours of volunteer service for the projects, which take place in Exelon’s service territories of northern Illinois, southeastern Pennsylvania and Texas.

“Our companywide observance of National Volunteer Week grows each year and continues to contribute meaningfully to the communities we serve,” said John W. Rowe, Exelon chairman and CEO.  “But our employees’ commitment to volunteerism is hardly limited to one week out of the year.  Thousands of dedicated Exelon employees partner year-round with their local service organizations to improve the environment and quality of life for people in their communities and beyond.”

National Volunteer Week, which officially took place April 10-16, 2011, is an annual, nationwide observance of individuals’ and organizations’ contributions to their communities. Exelon recognizes National Volunteer Week by empowering employee volunteers to design their own service projects and recruit others to participate. Many of the environmental projects organized by employee volunteers will take place around Earth Day and support Exelon 2020, the company’s strategy to eliminate the equivalent of its annual carbon footprint by 2020.

In 2010, more than 2,000 Exelon employee volunteers gave almost 66,000 hours of their time to community nonprofit organizations. This is equivalent to 1,650 workweeks or nearly 32 years of fulltime service.