Corporate Responsibility

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot has joined forces with boy band One Direction to raise money for an anti-bullying education program. The anti-bullying campaign is set to launch across the United States during the 2013 back-to-school season.

Starbucks Coffee Company is extending its indoor no-smoking policy to the outdoors. The company will prohibit anyone up to 25 feet from a Starbucks store from smoking, effective June 1, where permitted by its leases. 

The new rule will apply to the 7,000 shops owned and operated by Starbucks Corp., regardless of whether they have outdoor seating areas. 

MOLINE, Ill. — Deere & Company has elected Cargill CEO Gregory R. Page to its board of directors. Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. 

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the privately held company employs about 140,000 people in 65 countries and has annual sales of more than $130 billion.

New York -- The International Council of Shopping Centers announced that David J. LaRue, president and CEO of Forest City Enterprises, has been elected by ICSC’s Board of Trustees to serve as the association’s chairman for the 2013–2014 term.  

LaRue assumed his role as chairman on May 20 during RECon, ICSC’s annual meeting in Las Vegas.  He succeeds Brad Hutensky, president and principal of Hutensky Capital Partners.

ATLANTA — The Home Depot announced a single-day effort to prepare residents in storm-prone regions for the upcoming hurricane season. On July 27, Home Depot said it will host Hurricane Preparedness Workshops at more than 700 of its stores from the Gulf Coast to New England.

The expansion of the workshops is one of several preemptive measures the company is taking in preparation for 2013 hurricane activity, which is once again predicted to be above average.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot announced a single-day effort to prepare residents in storm-prone regions for the upcoming hurricane season. On July 27, Home Depot said it will host Hurricane Preparedness Workshops at more than 700 of its stores from the Gulf Coast to New England.

The expansion of the workshops is one of several preemptive measures the company is taking in preparation for 2013 hurricane activity, which is once again predicted to be above average.

CHICAGO — Cause Marketing Forum on Wednesday named America’s Checkout Charity Champions, a first-of-its-kind study ranking the largest consumer checkout donations in the United States last year.

Chicago -- Ebay, Walmart and McDonalds are tops when it comes to in-store charity donations, according to a study by Cause Marketing Forum that ranked the largest consumer donations at the point-of-sale last year. More than $358 million was raised in 2012 through a total of 63 corporate-backed charity checkout campaigns identified by Cause Marketing.