PPG’s New Paint for a New Start Transforms 27 Schools Worldwide with Colorful Makeovers

PPG announced that the third year of its New Paint for a New Start initiative, part of the company’s COLORFUL COMMUNITIES® program, transformed 27 schools worldwide during June, July and August 2024. More than 1,600 PPG volunteers and community partners took part in the initiative, dedicating 8,000 hours to transform classrooms and learning spaces for more than 16,200 students and educators.

PPG provided over $1 million in support to recipient schools through the New Paint for a New Start projects, which included educational supplies for several schools and nearly 6,200 gallons of PPG paint products. Using PPG’s color expertise, each project aimed to create engaging spaces for students to learn and grow.

“Through New Paint for a New Start projects, PPG employee volunteers, community members and PPG’s customer partners united to beautify classrooms, create vivid murals, invest in students’ success and create spaces where learning and inspiration can flourish,” said Steve Pocock, PPG vice president EMEA, Architectural Coatings, and 2024 New Paint for a New Start executive champion. “We understand the positive impact of improved physical learning environments on students and teachers and we harnessed the power of paint to create engaging spaces for them to thrive, learn and grow.”

Examples of projects around the world include:

• Columbus, Ohio: The library and entrance hallways at the Ohio School for the Deaf received a vibrant makeover from volunteers from PPG’s Delaware, Ohio facility and the company’s Automotive Refinish team.
• Stuttgart, Germany: More than 150 volunteers from five PPG sites used 3,000 liters of paint over six days to transform the Gemeinschaftsschule Weilimdorf school.
• Chimalhuacán, Mexico : 100+ preschool children benefited from a project to paint 10 classrooms and a playground at FAE Fundación para la Asistencia Educativa, FAE I.A.P.
• Wroclaw, Poland: PPG volunteers created a new outdoor classroom for students at a local primary school while completing gardening activities, building birdhouses and creating five murals about local biodiversity.
• Oklahoma City, Okla.: More than 3,000 community members will benefit from freshly painted classrooms for continuing education and workforce development completed by employees from PPG’s Protective and Marine Coatings business.
• Zhangjiagang, China : 1,700 students at Zhangjiagang Deji Primary School were greeted by colorful and transformative murals and an eco-farm.

“We’re proud of the hundreds of volunteers who poured thousands of hours into transforming schools and other education spaces,” said Malesia Dunn, executive director, PPG Foundation and Corporate Global Social Responsibility. “Aligned with PPG’s commitment to invest in educating the world’s future leaders, we aimed to give students an opportunity to grow and develop in colorful learning environments and set up their success for years to come.”

The Colorful Communities program, PPG’s signature initiative for supporting communities, aims to protect and beautify the neighborhoods where PPG operates around the world. Through the Colorful Communities program, PPG’s committed volunteers contribute their time and PPG paint products to help transform community assets – from painting classrooms to bringing color to a maternity ward and redesigning a playground. Since 2015, PPG has completed more than 500 Colorful Communities projects, impacting more than 8.2 million people in 50 countries.