BASF makes a difference in the Charlotte community

July 2024

In July 2024, the Charlotte site assembled 50 "Fresh Start" kits for Roof Above. These packages included essential items such as paper goods, cleaning supplies, trash bags and toiletries. The kits were designed to support community members as they embark on a new beginning.

Roof Above is a comprehensive homeless service provider that serves 1,200 people daily through a spectrum of services, including day services, emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing. 

June 2024

In June 2024, the Charlotte site embarked on an exciting opportunity to expand our STEAM outreach in the area. We launched a new partnership with the Charlotte Motor Speedway to provide STEAM programming every weekday. The programming incorporates experiments from BASF's Kids' Lab curriculum. 

Steven Scaldaferri, BASF senior manager —agile workforce enablement, volunteered to assist with Kids’ Lab in June 2024. Scaldaferri shared the following about his experience with the Charlotte Motor Speedway STEAM programming.

“Most of the kids did not know about BASF before the program, but the Charlotte Motor Speedway STEAM team was great at introducing us and allowing me to explain who we are to the kids and the parents. I don't work in the labs, but I am great at following instructions. I supported a group of about 25 kids between 6-8 years old with experiments about understanding how water impacts different materials and having fun with bubbles. I really felt the benefits of volunteering when I saw the level of excitement within the children about finding out that science can be fun and messy. But of course, being safe, too, as the team also focused on safety topics. I had a sense of pride in representing BASF. This experience stayed with me when I left, as I went home and shared with my family and colleagues. I am eager to volunteer again!”

The programming runs through the end of the year and reached more than 25,000 students last year. There are opportunities for BASF volunteers to deliver hands-on experiments at programming stations. Volunteers will join Charlotte Motor Speedway staff at the zMax Dragway.

“BASF is dedicated to enhancing the pathway to STEAM careers by emphasizing science education from an early age,” said Denise Hartmann, BASF Senior Vice President – Dispersions & Resins Division, Americas.  “We are excited to deepen our engagement with the Charlotte community by introducing young minds to the world of chemistry through our new partnership with the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Our interactive Kids’ Lab experiments and educational programs this collaboration provides aim to ignite a passion for scientific exploration and highlight the vast opportunities in STEAM-related fields.”

The STEAM team at the Speedway trained this summer on all the BASF Kids’ Lab experiments and has been excited to see how many ways they tie into motorsports. For example, kids learn how polymers work by making slime but also learn that they can be found in driver and track safety equipment.

Summer 2024

The Charlotte site partnered with Promising Pages for the Books on Break program again in 2024. During this year’s program, children from Title I or under-resourced area schools were provided with summer reading books. Promising Pages organizes free book fairs for students in grades Pre-K through fifth grade every year, allowing each student to choose five books to take home and read over the summer months. This year, the organization distributed 64,330 books to 12,276 students in 22 Title 1 schools.

April 2024

In April 2024, BASF volunteers joined the United Way of Greater Charlotte and 250 volunteers from other organizations in building a playground and renovating the grounds at Westerly Hills Academy in Charlotte. Some painting materials onsite even included BASF products!

2023

Thanks to the sponsorship from BASF Charlotte, Discovery Place Kids-Huntersville was able to provide a unique and engaging educational experience on chemistry to more than 6,100 guests for Calendar Year 2022. The program, led by the Discovery Place outreach programs team with the assistance of BASF Charlotte employees, offered hands-on activities for children to explore the fascinating world of STEM. This initiative is an excellent way to inspire and encourage young minds to pursue their interests in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Spring 2023

The partnership between the Charlotte site and Promising Pages for the Books on Break program is truly inspiring. During this Spring 2023 initiative, children from Title I or under-resourced area schools were provided with summer reading books. Promising Pages organizes free book fairs for students in grades Pre-K through fifth grade every year, allowing each student to choose five books to take home and read over the summer months. This year, the organization will distribute over 66,000 books to 10,500 students in 23 schools. It's heartening to witness communities coming together to help young children develop a love for reading, and initiatives like Books on Break are making a real difference.

March 2023

The Charlotte site teamed up with Roof Above to make a huge difference in our community. Together, we made more than 600 sandwiches and packed them into 300 lunch bags for our neighbors in need. Thanks to everyone who pitched in, we were able to finish the assembly ahead of schedule. It's amazing what we can achieve when we work together for a good cause!

February 2023

Regina Escandon Millet, Commercial Marketing Manager, and Susana Porzio, Quality Systems Leader III, led a virtual session for Project Scientist. The session was conducted in Spanish and provided an overview of BASF. The girls who participated in the session remotely were able to experiment with red cabbage and other household items to dye green pancakes. The classroom in California was just one of many that were involved in the session. Project Scientist is a national education non-profit that helps girls discover the fun and excitement of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

January Season 2023

Members of the AAEG Charlotte chapter and other colleagues volunteered at Loaves and Fishes to pay tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through community service. The group worked together to pack 400 boxes of food for families in need, which amounted to over 1,000 meals for individuals in our community. 

Holiday Season 2022

The Charlotte site collected two boxes of new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots during the 2022 holiday season. It was heartwarming to see so many people come together to make a difference in the lives of children in need. Thank you to everyone who participated! Your generosity and kindness will make a world of difference for these children.

November 2022

Our Charlotte sustainability team had a special visit from a group of Cub Scouts from BSA Palmetto Council at the Westinghouse facility. It was great to see the Scouts working hard towards their World Conservation Award by building birdhouses for bluebirds. These birdhouses will be placed around the Charlotte gardens to provide safe and cozy nests for these beautiful birds. What's even more impressive is that the birdhouses were constructed using recycled wood from the lab.

The Scouts were also given a tour of the lab, where they saw the origin of the recycled material. During the visit, a wildlife educator from Mecklenburg County presented a fascinating lesson about pollinators' role in the ecosystem. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved.

We would like to give a big thank you to all our BASF volunteers who supported this event! Without your help, it wouldn't have been possible to provide such a meaningful experience for the Scouts.

Fall 2022

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the fall 2022 United Way campaign! We have already surpassed our 2021 donation total by 40 percent, with contributions still coming in! It's incredible to see the impact we can make when we come together as a community. We ended the campaign with $20,000 in pledged deductions and one-time gifts.

As we continue to support the United Way of Central Carolinas, we are making a difference in the lives of our neighbors and friends. Your gift is an investment in our community, and it will help to provide crucial resources and support to those who need it most. Thank you for your kindness and dedication to making the world a better place. 

April 2022

Through BASF Charlotte’s sponsorship with Discovery Place Kids-Huntersville, dozens of fourth and fifth-grade students at Winget Park Elementary School in Charlotte experienced interactive, hands-on chemistry learning during sessions led by Discovery Place’s outreach programs team with assistance from BASF Charlotte employees. The students took part in live chemistry experiments taken from BASF’s Kids’ Lab program, which enhances science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related education for students. 

March 2022

Charlotte-based BASF senior executive Denise Hartmann recently penned an Op-Ed for the Charlotte Observer about the importance of support and comprehensive protections for the LGBTQ+ community in North Carolina.

In the piece, Denise shares that, “The benefits are quite clear. Comprehensive protections for LGBTQ+ people against discrimination would not only make North Carolina a more attractive destination for the best and brightest talent, it would also strengthen our state’s economy. At the same time, it would help companies like ours create the conditions where employees can truly thrive and achieve their fullest potential, which benefits us all.”

Read the full Op-Ed here: NC business exec: The patchwork of LGBTQ+ protections in NC isn’t enough

December 2021

BASF’s Charlotte site employees helped to make holiday wishes come true for children who need it most across the Charlotte region by sponsoring 50 Angels through the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte’s Angel Tree program.

November 2021

BASF Charlotte employees helped to make a difference for those in need across the Charlotte community by raising nearly $11,000 during the site’s 2021 campaign to support the United Way of Central Carolinas. 

United Way of Central Carolinas fights for every person's education, health, and financial stability in our community. With their network of more than 100 partners, they work daily to create an environment of opportunity for thousands of families in neighborhoods across our area.

September 2021

BASF in Charlotte is serving as a Feed the Body, Feed the Mind sponsor of Promising Pages. The organization collects new and donated books and distributes them to students and organizations, with the goal of eliminating book deserts and providing a free resource to those who need it most.

The Charlotte site purchased 500 new, diverse STEM books that will be distributed through the Promising Pages partners Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays and Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.

July 2021

The BASF Charlotte site recently donated 525 snack packs to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina's Backpack Program, along with more than 50 tubes of toothpaste, more than 90 toothbrushes, and other general food donations.

The Backpack Program provides a backpack full of nutritious, ready-to-eat, or easy-to-prepare foods that are sent home on weekends and holidays when school meals are not available. More than 200,000 backpacks are provided annually at over 200 distribution sites in 17 counties that the Food Bank serves. 

Because of the generosity of BASF employees, the Charlotte site exceeded its goal of 500 snack packs to support the Backpack Program! In total, 260 pounds were donated to Second Harvest.

July 2021

Danielle Foley, Product Safety & Stewardship Manager and Sustainability Champion for BASF in Charlotte, recently joined approximately 100 K-5 students at Kensington Elementary School's Summer Learning Camp virtually to explore chemistry.

She shared an overview of her role at BASF, how she came to like chemistry, and offered students insights into how BASF uses chemistry to help make the things people use every day.

The session's highlight was a chemistry experiment focused on acid-base reactions. Danielle used common kitchen ingredients to demonstrate how to blow up a balloon with baking soda and vinegar – an activity that delighted students and teachers alike.

July 2021

The BASF Charlotte team joined 3^rd through 5^th-grade students at Benton Heights Elementary School virtually to share about careers in chemistry and how exciting chemistry can be as a career choice.

BASF Technical Specialist Stephanie Carouthers also offered an engaging presentation where she led students and teachers through the Elephant Toothpaste science experiment from the You Be the Chemist 5^th edition activity guide and explained the chemical components of the ingredients in the experiment.

Responding to questions from curious students about how altering ingredients would change the experiment’s outcome, Stephanie switched things up during the session to demonstrate different reactions based on changing chemical elements. “The fun of chemistry is seeing what happens when you make a small change,” she told the students.

July 2021

To kick off July, BASF continued its support of Union County Public Schools’ summer learning camps by joining East Union Middle School for a virtual science experiment.

BASF chemist Julio Cuellar gave students insights into his role at BASF, the critical work done by chemists and scientists, and then led students and teachers through the Elephant Toothpaste science experiment from the You Be the Chemist 5th edition activity guide.

Julio also weaved culture into the session, sharing Spanish translations for chemistry terms – including that the word “chemistry” in Spanish is química!   

June 2021

Chemistry is everywhere, including how fizzy drinks, like sodas, are made.

The BASF Charlotte team recently led hundreds of sixth and seventh grade students at Monroe Middle School in Monroe, North Carolina, through a virtual chemistry experiment that focused on acid-base reactions.

Using the simple ingredients of the juice from a lemon, water, and baking soda, the students created a fizzy lemon drink that demonstrated how carbon dioxide (CO2) is formed by mixing lemon juice (an acid) and baking soda (a base) to cause a chemical reaction (fizz).

June 2021

The BASF Charlotte team recently joined more than 150 K-5 students at Fairview Elementary School in Monroe, North Carolina, to lead a virtual science experiment that explored how tornados are formed.

Using water, dish soap, glitter, and an empty and clean glass or jar with a tight-fitting top, the students made a "water" tornado and discussed the weather ingredients needed for a tornado to form, along with exploring the motion of a tornado. 

May 2021

BASF understands the importance of introducing science at an early age! That's why we were thrilled to join the Girl Scouts Hornets' Nest Council 2973 virtual troop meeting to lead dozens of excited Scouts through a virtual science experiment.

Our team guided the Scouts through the popular "Elephant Toothpaste" chemistry experiment from the You Be The Chemist 5th Edition Activity Guide. Many of the Scouts followed along with the activity using their own materials at home and were active participants, asking questions along the way.