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566%
Participation growth
900%
Program expansion
Challenge
Cencora’s distribution center teams play a critical role in fulfilling pharmaceutical and healthcare supply chain operations. Their work is fast-paced, physically demanding, and highly structured, leaving little flexibility for traditional volunteer models like community clean-ups or supply drives.
“These team members are on their feet all day, working in a fast-paced environment,” said Kate Laepple Hertzog, Manager of Community Engagement at Cencora. “They’re not sitting in front of a computer, so traditional engagement models didn’t work.”
Past ad hoc events had proved difficult to scale, and participation remained low. “We knew the volunteer opportunity needed to be on-site,” Kate explained. “But we also knew it had to resonate and be something they could do together because that team-building element was crucial.”
Frontline teams, dispersed across large distribution floors, rarely had the opportunity to convene, let alone participate in shared volunteering experiences. Kate saw that creating a scalable solution would require rethinking what volunteering could look like for this essential workforce.
Solution
In early 2023, Cencora piloted a new approach during MLK Day. In partnership with Visit.org, they launched on-site, hybrid volunteer experiences at four distribution centers. These hands-on events were designed to meet teams where they were, physically and logistically, while integrating virtual facilitation to minimize the lift on site leadership.
“The feedback was very positive from team members and the leaders who were able to participate,” Kate said. “That’s when we realized it could work at scale.”
After the pilot, Cencora committed to expanding access and building a repeatable framework that could grow with the company.
“Partnering with Visit.org made sense because it really was an extension of our team,” Kate added. “It allowed us to scale these efforts and bring purpose to people’s day-to-day in a way we hadn’t been able to before.”
Result
With a structured partnership in place, the program rapidly expanded. What began at just four locations grew to 40 distribution centers nationwide, a 900% increase, and participation rose from 120 to 800 employees, a 566% increase.
“Because we're scaling it and having 10 sites participate at once, we can engage a larger number of people than ever before,” Kate said.
What once seemed impossible became a model for success.
“We went from ‘this is not a doable scenario’ to ‘this is a shining star of our volunteer program,’” she shared.
“Employees embraced the experience, shared photos, told their families, and immediately asked, ‘When’s the next one?’”
One moment stood out to Kate: “I had team members ask for copies of the photos I took during the project so they could share them with their kids,” she said. “That tells you how meaningful it was to them.”
Leadership buy-in evolved alongside the program. What began as a Community Impact-funded initiative is now fully backed by the business group. “The 2025 hybrid initiative is fully funded through the business group budget, with my support alongside Visit.org,” Kate said. “It’s a different model entirely.”