As part of the Macy's nationwide launch in September, the Partners in Time volunteer program rolled out to Macy's Midwest and Macy's North. In 2006 Macy's Midwest volunteers provided gifts for more than 40 St. Louis families through the 100 Neediest Families program, collected cold weather accessories for City Mission in Huntington, WV and volunteered at the Central Missouri Food Bank, among other projects. Volunteers at Macy's North continued their community partnerships through efforts such as hosting a Halloween party for the Minneapolis Children's Hospital, serving dinners at a homeless shelter and rehabbing houses for the Hearts & Hammers charity in Minneapolis. 2006 also saw more employee volunteers at Macy's Home Store and macys.com as they created new service projects for their divisions.

Nationwide, volunteer projects that benefit children and youth represented 43,000 hours of service. Many projects include tutoring or mentoring such as the Everybody Wins "Power Lunch" reading program at Macy's East in New York City, the Macy's Northwest one-to-one tutoring program with Seattle children and the Bloomingdale's partnership with Mentoring USA at PS 59 in New York. Also popular are adopt-a-family efforts that benefit children in need, such as Bloomingdale's Old Orchard store in Illinois aiding the Skokie Human Services program and The Macy's Credit and Customer Services Group support of 50 families and their children in Greater Cincinnati.

Among hundreds of other efforts are the Macy's West Build-a-Library program for dozens of schools in need; Macy's Merchandising Group providing career counseling for area teens; school rehabilitation projects and supply collections at many divisions; Macy's Northwest volunteers biking for the American Lung Association; Macy's South volunteers building reading lofts and landscaping with students from an elementary school in the Martin Luther King Jr. district in Atlanta; and Macy's Logistics and Operations' ongoing Pen Friends program in Tukwila, Washington.

In all, Partners in Time volunteers gave about 5,000 hours in service for HIV/AIDS-related efforts including walks throughout the country. Whether in Miami or Las Vegas, New York or Houston, Sacramento or Seattle, our spirited teams helped to raised funds and awareness. Macy's, Inc. had the No. 1 team for AIDS Walk Atlanta as 100 volunteers from Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Macy's Systems and Technology Group and Macy's Logistics and Operations joined together to raise $43,000. More than 225 Macy's North walkers joined Chairman Frank Guzzetta for the Minnesota AIDS Walk. Volunteers also served meals for HIV/AIDS clients in several cities, wrapped holiday presents and worked behind the scenes for fundraising events.

Support for breast cancer research and awareness is strong. Nearly 7,000 hours of service were given through participating in walks nationwide - from North Carolina to Boston, San Diego to New Jersey, Connecticut to Tampa - and other creative efforts. Throughout the country, Partners in Time volunteers hit the pavement for the Komen Race for the Cure, the Revlon Run/Walk and the American Cancer Society's Making Strides for Breast Cancer events. Macy's, Inc. has sponsored the Komen Race in Cincinnati since its onset, and a combined Macy's, Corporate Office and Macy's Logistics and Operations team was the largest "big company" team for 2006. About 400 volunteers continued an important St. Louis tradition for the Komen Race for Cure - this year wearing specially designed T-shirts featuring a pink ribbon entwined with the Gateway Arch. All told, St. Louis donations reached more than $15,000. In addition to funds, volunteers raised awareness for the cause by selling pink ribbons and key chains, staffing booths and giving out Macy's shopping bags at walks, and creating educational rallies and luncheons.