PITTSBURGH – PPG Industries recently announced plans to expand its investments in global communities where the company operates with the launch of a $10 million initiative called “Colorful Communities.”

The program, which will focus on renewal projects that incorporate employee volunteerism opportunities, was announced at an event at Propel Hazelwood, a public charter school located less than 10 miles from the company’s global headquarters in Pittsburgh. PPG announced its initial $50,000 Colorful Communities grant to the Propel Schools Foundation, accompanied by a volunteer effort by PPG employees to repaint Propel Hazelwood using PPG PAINTS™ products. The grant will fund the renewal project and support the science program at Propel Schools' eight elementary-level schools.

The Colorful Communities program aims to enhance, protect and beautify the neighborhoods where PPG operates. Support for Colorful Communities projects will go beyond grants. Together with community partners and PPG employee volunteers, the program will support projects that transform community assets. Examples of projects include creating bright murals for libraries, repainting hospital corridors with uplifting colors and hiding graffiti on community buildings with a fresh coat of paint.

The program is currently engaged with a number of communities and expects to complete more than 14 Colorful Communities projects this year in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. In Alessandria, Italy, PPG has partnered with a community organization to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the city’s Children’s Hospital by using vivid paint colors to create a more positive environment. PPG also has partnered with an organization in the West Park neighborhood of Cleveland to support a new youth center being established within blocks of the company’s largest automotive coatings manufacturing facility in North America.