• Establishes relationships of trust with institutions and individuals.
• Identifies and responds to the community's essential needs, issues, and concerns.

We have established effective working relationships with our neighbors, which function through a focus on communication and sound community actions, including the establishment of Community Advisory Panels in conjunction with our neighbors.

In 1990, we made a $3.7 million contribution to build The Children's Inn at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's premier biomedical research center in Bethesda, Maryland.  For more than a decade, sick children under treatment at the NIH have had a place to call home.  The Children's Inn has become such a well-received haven, we donated another $3.7 million to build an 18-room addition, which broke ground in 2002.

We respond to disaster and emergency relief situations around the world, donating cash and/or medicines based on the magnitude of the disaster and the specific needs of each situation.

In response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., we donated a total of $5 million to assist in the relief efforts.  Merck volunteers, fire trucks, and emergency medical vehicles and supplies were also at Ground Zero to help victims.

After the two devastating earthquakes in India and El Salvador in 2001, we donated a total of $224,000 to the American Red Cross and other Indian and El Salvadoran relief organizations. In addition, we donated MEFOXIN®, VIOXX®, CHIBROXIN®, and FLEXERIL® to the Ministry of Health in El Salvador for emergency needs.

In line with our desire to make a positive contribution to the communities in which we work and live, we support numerous programs that allow employees to contribute directly.

In 2001, our employees gave $4.6 million through the Matching Gift Program to support high schools, colleges and universities, public broadcasting, and public libraries. Together with our contribution of $2.8 million, a total of $7.4 million went to support 1,500 such organizations.

We are proud of the important effort that our lawyers and support staff have devoted to pro bono legal efforts over the past several years. This program provides free legal services to the poor. The development and success of the Merck pro bono program result from the motivation of our employees to help better the lives of those less fortunate by helping to solve their legal problems and from the effective partnership that has been established with Legal Services of New Jersey (LSNJ).