News and Press Releases

One Hundred Takeda San Diego Employees Support the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by Volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul Village and the San Diego River Garden

January 18, 2010, San Diego, CA: One hundred Takeda San Diego (TSD) employees honored Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision—citizens   addressing community needs through service—by   volunteering their time and effort at the St. Vincent de Paul Village (Village) homeless shelter and the San Diego River Garden (River Garden) on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

 

Twenty TSD employees arrived at 5:30 a.m. to serve breakfast to Village residents and prep for lunch. Chef Rico Espinoza skillfully directed TSD volunteers into a whirlwind of activity. In the main kitchen volunteers breaded pork, cut vegetables and prepared bags of food for lunch whilst other TSD colleagues portioned out breakfast and bused tables in the cafeteria.  “It’s wonderful to give back to the community and help people” said Jacqueline Fernandez from TSD. 

 

“The Village helps residents break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by promoting self sufficiency, and we critically depend on volunteer support to accomplish our mission,” stated Village volunteer services representative Gina Philips.  Philips added, “We have 10,000 volunteers who fill 29,000 volunteer spots per year and this help is instrumental in enabling us to focus the saved resources to programs for our residents.”

 

Across town, 80 other TSD volunteers gathered at the River Garden—a five acre reclamation project on the banks of the San Diego River. The River Garden is the newest community garden and only park in eastern Mission Valley. Richard Dhu, program manager for the San Diego River Park Foundation, addressed the group, “Takeda’s work today on the River Garden builds on previous volunteer efforts to transform this area into a beautiful park to serve the community.”

 

TSD employees then split into landscaping teams, expanding the Succulent Garden with 40 new plants, creating a switchback trail complete with stairs, drainage and erosion control features, and enhancing the Fir Tree Garden. Other improvements included weeding several hundred yards of trails, and graveling the nursery and tool shed area. “The San Diego River has been integral to the communities surrounding it for over 10,000 years, and the work achieved by Takeda today is inspiring. This was a day of huge accomplishments,” stated Dhu at the close of the event.

 

“We used our hearts and hands today,” commented Keith Wilson, president and CSO of TSD,   “I’m glad we could align our Company’s service efforts with the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who believed that ‘life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?’”

 

 

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

 

Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to striving toward better health for individuals and progress in medicine by developing superior pharmaceutical products. Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com

 

About Takeda San Diego Inc.

 

Takeda San Diego Inc., (TSD) is Takeda’s first US-based discovery research operation. TSD achieves an advantage in drug discovery by leveraging its leading structural biology capabilities to determine the three dimensional structures of human protein drug targets. TSD then uses these structures to efficiently create best-in-class drug candidates to treat diabetes, cancer, and inflammation. Additional information about Takeda San Diego is available at www.takedasd.com

 

About St. Vincent de Paul Village

 

St Vincent de Paul is a mission-style campus located in the heart of San Diego that houses 900 families as well as single men and women. St Vincent de Paul also serves more than 3,000 meals each day. Programs at the center include children's activities, family literacy classes, job skills workshops, career counseling, motivational classes, medical and dental care, and an on-site elementary school.

 

About the San Diego River Park Foundation

 

San Diego River Park Foundation (SDRPF) works with community groups and other organizations dedicated to the San Diego River and the River Park and its wildlife, recreation, water, cultural and community values to better engage the public in this project. The SDRPF supports projects which help to establish the river-long park such as restoring and enhancing the river, establishing public plazas and community gardens, and telling the story of the river through interpretive programs, kiosks and educational signage, and more. The SDRPF also works to acquire and manage critical properties which play an important role in creating the River Park. The vision of the SDRPF is a greenbelt from the mountains to the ocean along the 52 mile long San Diego River. This greenbelt is really a trail system and a clean and healthy river system which connects a diversity of parks, open spaces, public places and community facilities spread out along the length of the River.

 

About Martin Luther King Jr.   Day of Service

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a United States Federal holiday marking the birth date of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.

 

 

Contact:

 

Takeda San Diego, Inc.

Corporate Communications/Public Relations

Shant Salakian

Tel: +1-858-731-3573

E-mail: shant.salakian@takedasd.com

 

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