Upon recently unveiling expanded community partnerships and sustainability programs, Las Vegas Sands Corp. has been recognized for the second year in a row by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for its industry-leading corporate sustainability efforts in North America. Las Vegas Sands Corp. received a full 100 percent score in the environmental reporting category.
One of the most well-regarded global sustainability indices, the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment is an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices. More than 3,400 publicly traded companies are invited to participate annually. The Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index tracks the performance of the top 20 percent of the 600 largest Canadian and United States companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index based on a variety of economic, social and environmental criteria.
“Corporate responsibility is extremely important to our company and we pride ourselves on being a global leader in sustainable practices,” said Robert Goldstein, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands. “We are very proud of our accomplishments and honored to have received this prestigious recognition from DJSI for another year.”
Las Vegas Sands Corp. is deeply committed to environmental stewardship through the work of the Sands ECO360° Global Sustainability Program, which focuses on sustainable buildings and development, as well as reducing the impact of the company’s business operations on the environment. The program integrates best practices in sustainability across all company properties and serves as a roadmap for continuous improvement on environmental performance.
Local Partnership Increases Aid to Las Vegas Homeless
Las Vegas Sands Corp. reaffirmed its commitment to address homelessness in the Las Vegas area. Through grants totaling $320,000 to local non-profit organizations Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) and HELP of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Sands Corp. will help support the availability and effectiveness of stable housing in the Las Vegas area for homeless youth and adults. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Las Vegas trails only New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Diego in the size of its homeless population.
The $170,000 donation to NPHY will fund two key initiatives that will expand its emergency shelter, allowing it to double the number of clients that can be housed per year, and expand accessibility of its Drop-In Center from five to seven days a week and expand their hours. At the center, homeless youth can fulfill immediate needs such as food, clothing and hygiene supplies, and be connected to resources to help them become independent, including crisis counseling, life skills classes, and educational and employment assistance.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. also donated a $150,000 grant for HELP of Southern Nevada, to support the Housing First Harm Reduction Model in Las Vegas. In recent years, many homeless programs and advocates have shifted to such “housing first” approaches that couple housing with supportive services and intensive case management instead of treatment-based models that require beneficiaries to prove housing readiness through enrolling or completing treatment programs. HELP of Southern Nevada was the first organization in Las Vegas to use the housing first principle.
Recycled Hygiene Kits Donated in Lehigh Valley
In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, more than 200 volunteers gathered this month at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem to build 10,000 hygiene kits for social enterprise Clean the World. The kits, which were assembled to help improve the health and well-being of communities in need, will benefit nearly 20 charitable organizations in the greater Lehigh Valley.
The effort is part of Sands Bethlehem’s global corporate citizenship program Sands Cares, and its ongoing partnership with Clean the World to support its mission of promoting good health and well-being around the globe through improved access to soap and hygiene education.
This is the second consecutive year Sands Bethlehem has built hygiene kits for Clean the World, and the 2016 events will bring the total number of hygiene kits created by Sands Bethlehem to 35,000. Since 2011, Las Vegas Sands and Clean the World have recycled more than 190 tons of waste from Las Vegas Sands properties into more than 1.6 million bars of soap.
