Month: July 2025

Originally published in Aflac’s Do Good Newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

Applications for 2025 Child Life Program Grants open now

This year, the Aflac Childhood Cancer Foundation will award up to 15 grants of $1,500 each to Child Life programs in the U.S. that provide support to children with cancer and/or blood disorders and/or their siblings. If you or someone you know works with a hospital Child Life program, you can download the application at AflacChildhoodCancer.org. The deadline for completed applications is 5 ‍p.‍m. ED‍T on Ju‍ly 2‍5.

Apply today

Life beyond ringing the bell

The high school years are a pivotal time in life, and for Katie Rutherford, it was also about surviving. After being diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, Katie became a patient at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Her experience came full circle — today, she works for the center where, seven years ago, she rang the bell that symbolized the end of her cancer treatment journey.

Read Katie’s story

From surviving cancer to finding a career with impact

Ryan Zimmerman began his life with cancer and, growing up, he spent a lot of time at his local children’s hospital. Now, Ryan is a cancer survivor and after learning about Aflac’s mission and work to support those with childhood cancer and blood disorders, he joined the Aflac flock as an IT apprentice.

Read Ryan’s story

My Special Aflac Duck® featured resource: Let’s go to space!

Do you ever wish you could transport yourself or your patient to a calm, happy place? Maybe it’s outer space, the beach or a cozy spot at home. Whatever your itinerary holds in store, you can use the Soundscapes® Spaceship to help visualize a place that brings happiness. My Special Aflac Duck is a comforting companion available free of charge to children ages 3 and up with cancer or a blood disorder like sickle cell disease.

Learn more

Learn about the Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign

Order My Special Aflac Duck free of charge

© 2025 Aflac Incorporated. All rights reserved. This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation for insurance. Aflac includes Aflac and/or Aflac New York.

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EXP: 06/26

MEMPHIS, Tenn., July 16, 2025 /3BL/ – In honor of World Snake Day, International Paper (IP) and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) take a moment to recognize how forest restoration is fueling the recovery of one of America’s most iconic serpents, and how NFWF and IP’s Forestland Stewards Partnership is supporting this effort.

The eastern indigo snake is part of the Drymarchon genus of snakes, which comes from the Greek words “drymos” (forest) and “archon” (ruler or lord). This species lives up to its name as it is the longest native snake species in the United States. The eastern indigo snake once flourished in the longleaf pine forests. Its striking glossy blue-black coloring could be seen slithering across the forest floor, but now due to habitat loss, this federally threatened species has been pushed to the brink disappearing from the forests it once thrived. 

However, thanks to a grant from NFWF with funding support from IP and four additional funding partners, efforts to bring this species back are gaining new momentum.

The grant, awarded to The Nature Conservancy Florida Chapter through the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund, is part of a broader, multi-year initiative to restore critical longleaf pine habitat in Southwest Georgia and Florida. These open-canopied forests not only support the indigo snake but are home to many at-risk species like the gopher tortoise, red-cockaded woodpecker, and Bachman’s sparrow.

This funding will also support the care and breeding of eastern indigo snakes at the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation (OCIC), the world’s first and only facility dedicated to this species. Captive-bred snakes raised at OCIC have been released at The Nature Conservancy’s Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve since 2017. And for the first time in 2023, wild-born juveniles were documented on the landscape, signaling a huge milestone in recovery efforts.

“Seeing wild-born indigo snakes for the first time in decades is an incredible milestone,” said Sophie Beckham, Chief Sustainability Officer at International Paper.  “It’s proof that when we invest in both species and habitat, we can reverse declines and rebuild populations from the ground up.”

In tandem, the grant will fund habitat restoration by supporting prescribed burning, hardwood reduction, and the planting of more than 4,900 acres of longleaf pine. These actions help restore the open, sun-dappled understory that snakes and their prey need to thrive.

This support from IP marks its first direct investment in eastern indigo snake recovery. Through NFWF’s Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund grant program, IP is also helping restore habitat for other at-risk snake species such as the Louisiana pine snake and northern pine snake.

As invasive species and development continue to threaten the Southeast’s forests, partnerships like this are critical. That is why World Snake Day is a great reminder that even the most misunderstood animals deserve a place and a future on our planet.

###

About International Paper 
International Paper (NYSE: IP; LSE: IPC) is the global leader in sustainable packaging solutions. With company headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) headquarters in London, UK, we employ more than 65,000 team members and serve customers around the world with operations in more than 30 countries. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Net sales for 2024 were $18.6 billion. In 2025, International Paper acquired DS Smith creating an industry leader focused on the attractive and growing North American and EMEA regions. Additional information can be found by visiting internationalpaper.com 

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) works with partners to foster sustainable and impactful conservation solutions so that people and nature thrive together. Chartered by Congress in 1984, NFWF has grown to become the nation’s largest conservation foundation.  Since its founding, NFWF has supported more than 7,000 grantee organizations and funded over 23,300 projects that have generated a total conservation impact of $11.3 billion. Learn more at nfwf.org. 

Joleen Ong, Cascale’s senior director of brand and retailer membership, recently joined a panel at the Good Business Forum in New York to discuss how workplace strategies, particularly those focused on women, have translated into tangible business outcomes.

The event, hosted by Good Business Lab, brought together industry leaders to showcase innovative tools, share success stories, learnings, and insights, and catalyze collaborations that drive measurable change. The “Business of Better Work” panel brought together experts from global apparel brands, the UN system, and sustainability coalitions to explore why investing in women-friendly workplaces makes smart business sense.

Ong noted that brands are shifting from one-off CSR initiatives to systemic and long-term investment in women workers. Sharing insights from Cascale collaborator SLCP’s Impact Report, she highlighted that 35 percent of facilities reported a gender pay gap and that only 25 percent of managers are women despite making up 59 percent of the workforce. She emphasized the importance of strong HR management systems — a key area assessed by compliance tools such as the Higg Index, SLCP, and other compliance tools, to successfully achieve gender equity within a workplace.

Reflecting on her experience at Columbia Sportswear Company, Ong shared how she helped establish the ¹Women’s Leadership Initiative — an internal employee resource group — with support from the chief human resources officer and approval from the CEO. The initiative provided a sounding board for how to be more intentional with DEI efforts, mentorship, and internal learning and networking to support career advancement.

²Ong highlighted how facilities with strong social indicators tended to succeed in environmental metrics, noting that gender-inclusive HR systems supported better overall facility management. She pointed out how women in leadership often drive stronger follow-through on ESG initiatives, emphasizing that gendered risks are frequently overlooked in audits unless assessed through a gender lens.

Drawing on her experience as a board member of the menstrual health and education INGO Days for Girls International, Ong highlighted how menstrual stigma and inflexible workplaces that overlook menstrual health needs can contribute to absenteeism and limit opportunities for advancement.³She underscored that Inclusive workplaces are not only more effective but also more sustainable– highlighting the inextricable link between gender equity and climate resilience.

Ong shared challenges that hinder suppliers’ ability to invest in gender equity, including inconsistent trust between sustainability and sourcing teams and misalignment between sustainability goals and purchasing practices. She concluded by underscoring the importance of business cases framed around factors such as return on investment, compliance and reputational risk, and competitive differentiation as key drivers of meaningful investment in gender equity.

¹ Columbia Impact Report 2023 https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_7243294f6152cc533d813bdcb6c832fb/columbia/db/641/5807/pdf/Columbia_Impact_Report_2023.pdf (pg15)

² Better Work (2022). Gender Equality and Inclusion Strategy 2022–2027 https://betterwork.org/reports-and-publications/global-gender-strategy/

³ Women, Gender Equality and Climate Change: https://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/climate_change/

What happens when yesterday’s landfills become today’s problem—cracking, leaking, or resurfacing in the wake of poor maintenance or climate-driven disasters? In this episode, we dive into how companies and communities are tackling the legacy of contaminated sites, and the best practices shaping a safer, more resilient future for remediation.

Listen now on:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube

Time Stamps
(00:00) Landfills: Out of sight, out of mind?

(00:46) Meet the hosts and guests

(01:19) Biggest risks of modern landfills

(02:41) New Zealand’s legacy landfills: A case study

(09:54) Australia’s best practices in landfill management

(16:59) Climate change and its impact on landfills

(22:28) Innovations and global knowledge sharing

(32:15) Key takeaways with the hosts

“The  relationship with landfills is an interesting one. They’re a necessary evil. We all use them to a greater or lesser extent. But I think there’s an element that we don’t want to think about them. We don’t want them to be there. We just want somebody else to deal with them, basically.” – Paul

“ Our landfill space has been relatively well regulated. That’s not to say that we don’t have historic landfills that are sort of forgotten, or our legacy sites…But basically what we’ve got in Victoria is some of the highest standards for landfill design, siting design, operation and rehabilitation in the country. A lot of other states and even other countries use our standards as their default.” – Andrew

We recently donated a retired PSE&G 2013 Freightliner M2106 aerial truck to Mercer County Technical Schools – mctsnj to give students real-world experience as they prepare for careers in skilled trades.

We’re proud to work with several technical schools throughout New Jersey to ensure those interested in skilled trades have the resources and support they need to thrive.

Learn more: http://spr.ly/60474sMfH

View original content here.

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Whether you’re launching a new initiative or enhancing an existing program, this engaging webinar will guide you in building responsible sourcing strategies that deliver measurable, meaningful results.

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• Develop comprehensive sourcing programs tailored to your company’s goals and supply chain realities
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• Strengthen supplier relationships through engagement and shared priorities
• Implement traceability systems that verify ethical and sustainable practices
• Benchmark and improve your sourcing policies using global best practices
• Design and implement second-party audits that align with your values and desired outcomes
• Integrate environmental, social, and animal welfare standards into sourcing decisions

With over 40 years of experience across sectors such as coffee, dairy, cocoa, produce and more, SCS brings deep expertise and proven tools to help you transform your sourcing strategy into a driver of trust, transparency, and long-term business growth. Starbucks, Ferrero, and Driscoll’s and many other industry leaders have worked with SCS to advance their sustainable and ethical sourcing practices.

Join us and discover how to build a responsible sourcing program that works across your entire supply chain.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE WEBINAR

By registering, you will get access to the webinar recording.

For inquiries, contact:

Shyama Devarajan 
Senior Marketing Analyst, SCS Global Services 
sdevarajan@scsglobalservices.com

As kids go, Monica Santamaria was always on the move. 

“She absolutely loved swimming, volleyball, decorating and painting,” said her father, Roberto. “Her passion was contagious. She wore us out in a good way. We never saw any hints of physical problems. She was perfectly healthy.”

That all changed when Monica turned 6.

Her parents noticed her body curved to the left when she walked, and a similar curve began forming in her back. Doctors in Monica’s hometown of Managua, Nicaragua did a variety of tests and eventually diagnosed her with scoliosis, a severe and painful curvature of the spine that sometimes afflicts children, generally girls, during growth spurts.

“We had never heard of scoliosis and so the news was devastating,” Roberto remembers. “The more we learned, the more frightened we became.” 

Monica experienced many symptoms: back pain, pain in her lower limbs, cramps, fatigue, headaches, and trouble sleeping. Suddenly the girl with so much energy and love for sports couldn’t participate in gym class or play games that might hurt her back.

“I felt sad because I had so much fun doing those things but then I couldn’t,” Monica said. “Sometimes I had to play by myself because the teachers didn’t want my classmates to hurt me accidentally.” 

From desperation to hope

Scoliosis can often be treated through spine surgery, but such care is not available in Nicaragua. The Santamarias learned through their spine specialist about the medical missions of SpineHope, a U.S. based nonprofit that brings together surgeons, donated medical and surgical equipment, and teams of volunteers to take scoliosis treatment to various countries, including Nicaragua.

“It’s the most altruistic thing I’ve ever seen,” said Toby Hernandez, a sales rep in the Medtronic Cranial and Spinal Technologies Operating Unit who volunteers with SpineHope. “These children, these families, have no other options. They’re desperate. When they learn their child is going to get help, it’s a very emotional moment. Everybody in the room is crying, including us.”

The volunteer teams typically take two to four mission trips every year. Three missions are planned for 2025. Each trip involves prepping, packing, shipping and setting up an entire, functioning operating room in another country — roughly 30 bins of precision medical equipment and spine implants.

“It’s hard work, but it’s life-changing work and it’s all for these families and these children,” said Whitney Scurlock-Wood, a Medtronic spinal sales representative who has volunteered with SpineHope for the last four years. “Seeing the difference we make in people’s lives is just amazing. I take away something from every mission trip I go on.”

The team often performs several procedures on each mission. Occasionally, SpineHope’s case assessment concludes the patient should be brought to the U.S. for surgery, and that’s what happened with Monica.

“It didn’t hurt anymore”

For a month before surgery, Monica wore a halo-gravity traction device, which is a way of gently stretching the spine before surgery. Doctors attached a metal ring to Monica’s head and slowly added weights to a pulley system to apply traction to her spine. Eventually the system weighed 35 pounds, almost half of Monica’s body weight. But the process reduced her spine curvature by almost 50 percent, from 127 degrees to 73 degrees, and prepared her for the surgery.  

Then, volunteer surgeons used donated Medtronic spine products in the procedure to straighten her curved spine.

Several Medtronic volunteers participated in the eight-hour operation.

Monica’s recovery started almost immediately.  “The medical assistants helped her stand up the day after surgery and she took her first steps,” Roberto said. “It was incredible. Amazing.” 

Seven days later, Monica left the hospital, no longer in pain and walking on her own. “It didn’t hurt anymore and I could do the things I liked to do again,” she said. 

Today, Monica is back to swimming, playing volleyball, skating, and painting — activities she always loved but had to limit due to her condition. Her mood changed drastically; her smile is back and she’s happily looking forward to a life full of new possibilities.

“I’m grateful to everyone on my care team for everything they’ve done for me,” Monica said. “They gave me my life back.”

Medtronic has partnered with SpineHope ever since its formation in 2008—helping change the lives of more than 200 young patients.

“Medtronic is so committed to doing the right thing for the right people, Hernandez said. “It’s amazing and inspiring to be a part of it.”

Learn more about Medtronic.

Editor’s Note: The information in this article is not a substitute for talking to your doctor. Always talk to your doctor or other qualified health care provider about your medical condition and the risks and benefits of available treatments. This patient’s story is based on one individual’s experience. Not all patients will experience similar results.