Legacy of Community Involvement

Numerous educational, economic-development and human-service programs receive support from the R.J. Reynolds Foundation and the employees of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (R.J. Reynolds). The R.J. Reynolds Foundation is a non-profit corporation, established as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt private foundation, which administers certain charitable and educational giving programs on behalf of Reynolds American Inc., R.J. Reynolds and their respective employees.

History

For more than a century, R.J. Reynolds has maintained a tradition of helping to build better, stronger and more enjoyable communities in the locales in which it operates.

R.J. Reynolds' history of corporate responsibility began with the company's founder, Richard Joshua Reynolds, who founded the company in 1875. Mr. Reynolds gave generously to the community where he built his business. His first documented gift was in 1891, when he gave $500 (in today's dollars that would be around $10,000) toward the establishment of the Slater Industrial School. Slater Industrial later became Winston-Salem State University.

During the 1890s and early 1900s, Mr. Reynolds continued giving private donations to such causes as hospitals, orphanages, new churches, agricultural contests and higher education.

In 1914 at the urging of his wife, Mr. Reynolds tried a modern fund-raising technique – the challenge grant. He promised to personally give one dollar for every seven raised to build a YWCA facility. His personal matching gift totaled $5,000, which combined with the funds raised from other sources was still not enough to meet construction costs.

So, in 1917, in what is considered to be the company's first major corporate grant, the directors of R.J. Reynolds voted to give $10,000 to pay off the YWCA building debt. In return, the YWCA would provide services to company employees, including female employees from nearby counties who boarded there during the week.

At Mr. Reynolds' death, North Carolina Governor Thomas Walter Bickett, said, " ... Therefore, the greatest eulogy that can be offered would be to refer to his life of rugged honesty, his wide usefulness and his kindly dealings with his fellowmen, which he himself deemed his first duty."

After Mr. Reynolds' death, his wife and leaders in the company carried on many of his charitable contributions; however, these gifts were legally limited until 1953, when federal corporate giving laws changed. In that year, the company established an executive contributions committee.

Since 1953, R.J. Reynolds has sustained the legacy of caring and corporate responsibility by giving millions of dollars to support education, economic development, tobacco agricultural programs at land-grant universities and many more worthy causes both around the nation and in communities in which R.J. Reynolds employees live and work. In addition, R.J. Reynolds employees are given the chance to help direct funds to non-profit organizations through plans sponsored by the R.J. Reynolds Foundation.

Notable contributions include those to the North Carolina Zoo, the North Carolina Aquarium, Old Salem, Inc., the United Way of Forsyth County, the Arts Council of Forsyth County, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Yadkin County Schools, Winston-Salem State University and Wake Forest University Medical School.

Other examples of community programs supported by R.J. Reynolds and the R.J. Reynolds Foundation include:

• AIDS task forces
• American Red Cross
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters
• Brenner Children's Hospital
• Cancer Services
• Christmas Cheer Toy Shop
• Crisis Control Ministry
• Family Services' "Head Start" program
• Food Bank of Northwestern North Carolina
• Goodwill Industries
• Habitat for Humanity
• Hospice
• The Little Theater
• Mental Health Association
• National Black Theatre Festival
• National Urban League
• N.C. Black Repertory Company
• N.C. Special Olympics
• Salvation Army
• Senior Services
• Volunteer fire departments and rescue squads
• Winston-Salem Symphony
• Winston-Salem Urban League
• YMCA
• Many local K-12 schools, and higher-level academic institutions such as Winston-Salem State University, Wake Forest University, Forsyth Technical Community College and Salem College.