Hanesbrands Inc., the parent of Hanes, Champion and Gear For Sports, announced the awarding of high school diplomas to the first graduating class of employees in the company's continuing education program in Honduras.
Two years after the program's inception, 119 employees clad in blue graduation gowns tossed their tasseled mortar-board hats into the air to celebrate their achievement at the emotional commencement ceremony, Hanesbrands said in a statement.
Hanes executives and representatives from the Honduran Department of Education passed out diplomas to the class of 2010 at the Convention and Expo Center in San Pedro Sula, the nation's industrial center and second largest city.
“I started going to school when I was young but never finished,” said Gennie Maribel Zelaya, one of the Hanes employee graduates, in the statement. “It has been a challenging journey and it took a lot of pride and determination to get here. I work fulltime and have several children who are all in school themselves. It's not easy to study when you have to work and help your children do their homework as well. Today, all of those sacrifices paid off.”
Hanes, which has more than 12,000 employees in Honduras, started the continuing education program in February 2009, and more than 1,000 Honduran employees participate in the program at no cost.
The employees attend classes on Saturdays in the towns of Villanueva and Choloma near San Pedro Sula in schools close to the plants where they work. The program is available to associates at 10 Hanes apparel manufacturing and sewing facilities.
“Education is a fundamental need in the communities where our employees live and work,” said Maria Elena Sikaffy, director of human resources for Hanes in Central America. “We believe in supporting education because education can change the world by changing people's lives.”
The company and its employees have an ongoing relationship with the schools that hold the Saturday continuing education classes. Hanes recently invested approximately $121,000 and employees volunteered thousands of hours to renovate the Manuel Bonilla School in Villanueva and José Trinidad Cabañas School in Choloma to improve the facilities' infrastructure and provide better resources for teachers and students.
The projects were carried out by more than 1,000 employee volunteers from Hanes plants as part of the company's continuing commitment to being an active participant in the communities where it operates. Improvements included remodeled classrooms, kitchens and bathrooms; upgraded educational materials; new ceilings; outdoor landscaping; potable drinking water; and better ventilation systems.
“These schools will greatly improve the quality of life for more than 1,700 children in these communities as well as our employees who continue their studies on Saturdays,” Sikaffy said. “We plan on expanding Hanes' continuing education programs in 2011 and implementing a virtual university model to serve even more of our employees.”
Hanesbrands apparel brands include Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, JMS/Just My Size, barely there, Wonderbra and Gear For Sports.
