United States

Education and Training

Photo of a teacher and a child at a Purina education workshop

Nestlé Purina PetCare Company (NPPC) was formed when Nestlé acquired Ralston Purina in December 2001. NPPC is a leader in the pet products industry, and community involvement is a long-standing tradition. In the United States, NPPC annually supports organizations that provide youth education programmes, community outreach, and pet assistance programmes, primarily at its North American headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, and in cities where it has manufacturing facilities.
Pet Projects
NPPC has established Purina “Pets for People” as a multi-faceted initiative with humane shelters. “Pets for People” includes, but goes far beyond promoting responsible pet ownership through proper nutrition and care. It creates a presence for humane shelters in retail stores to encourage adoptions by shoppers, it helps offset adoption costs for senior citizens, and it facilitates humane shelters getting increased visibility within their communities. Since its inception in 1984, “Pets for People” has contributed more than $16 million to participating humane shelters and matches more than 1 million pets and owners per year.
Importantly, NPPC also contributes pet food to shelters and consistently helps four-legged victims of disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other situations with pet food and financial assistance.
Youth Development
Projects that NPPC is currently involved in include the Nestlé Purina Summer Youth Employment Programme which provides meaningful job experience for students living in the local community; Focus St. Louis’ Youth Leadership Programme which trains young people to develop leadership skills and become involved in the community; and St. Louis Artworks, a unique summer programme that combines an arts education and job training for low-income, at-risk youth.
NPPC also takes an active role in the success of youth education programmes, such as the Peabody Task Force, a committee comprised of St. Louis businesses and dedicated individuals that obtains private funding to improve resources at Peabody Elementary School. The Task Force’s purchase of state-of-the-art computer technology resulted in a 75 percent increase in student test scores. NPPC’s manufacturing plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin supports a Character Education programme for the Jefferson Public School District. The programme entails the school district partnering with the community to build an environment of higher student expectations based on mutual respect and dignity for everyone.
Every year, NPPC organizes an employee-giving programme that contributes over $800,000 for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, an amount that is distributed to more than 200 agencies in 16 counties in Missouri and Illinois. Similar campaigns at NPPC’s manufacturing locations make their respective communities a better place in which to live.