COLORFUL COMMUNITIES projects bring a ‘metamorphosis’ to community spaces

Published : 29-Nov-2022

At recent COLORFUL COMMUNITIES® projects around the world, PPG employee volunteers picked up their paint brushes to provide colorful transformations to important local community spaces.

At the Bilderdijkhof community center in Uithoorn, the Netherlands, a partner organization referred to a recent project as a ‘metamorphosis’ that will bring new vibrancy to the center.

“I regularly talk about social cohesion, but here it really happens,” said José de Robles, alderman for Care of Uithoorn. “What makes this project important to me is that volunteers have been busy here to renovate the community center. It is impressive what was achieved here together. They can rightly be proud of that.”

Read on to learn more about the Uithoorn Colorful Communities project and other global projects taking place in October and November 2022.

Europe, Middle East, Africa, French Overseas and Suriname

Seventy PPG employee volunteers helped to revitalize the Bilderdijkhof community center in Uithoorn, the Netherlands with a fresh new color palette selected by PPG color experts. The Bilderdijkhof center is part of Participe Amstelland, a welfare organization that supports residents of Uithoorn so that they can continue to actively participate in society. The PPG volunteers repainted the center, including the day care area for people with dementia, offices, corridors and a billiard room using a dementia-friendly color scheme with muted tones for the main walls and fresh greens and yellows for the contrasting walls. Learn more HERE.

Meanwhile at the Ringshall Primary School in Stowmarket, United Kingdom, our volunteers updated classrooms and the hallway.

Asia Pacific

In  Samutprakarn, Thailand, volunteers from PPG’s Bangplee manufacturing plant transformed the Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) Samutprakarn School to create vibrant, refreshed spaces for the students. The school is a governed elementary-high school with 1,920 students and 182 teachers. A majority of students are from families in need. Using bright, energetic colors on the school’s exterior, one of the project’s updated spaces included a revitalized sports field. Learn more HERE.

Meanwhile in Yen Bai province, Vietnam, PPG employee volunteers renewed and brightened the Che Cu Nha primary and secondary boarding school. The project aimed to enhance the learning environment and to educate students on environmental protection and renewable energy advantages. PPG Vietnam also provided scholarships to 30 outstanding students and encouraged them to continue their studies, despite facing difficult conditions.

United States and Canada

Annually, PPG volunteers' partner with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania through Colorful Communities projects. This year, 90 volunteers from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area participated in projects in the Greater Pittsburgh region to help jump start PPG's United Way Campaign. At Glade Run, an organization focused on education, mental health, autism and unique therapeutic offerings, volunteers painted offices and hallways and spruced up outdoor areas. At Mt. Ararat community activity center, volunteers painted hallways, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) room, classrooms and a game room. Meanwhile, at Camp Guyasuta, a Boy Scouts of America facility, our volunteers stained and sealed outdoor tables, benches and pavilions.

In Des Plaines, Illinois, PPG’s global Packaging Coatings leadership team partnered with leaders from Ardagh Group, a PPG customer and a global supplier of sustainable metal and glass packaging. The combined 30 volunteers beautified the interior of the “Clean Up, Give Back” organization’s new, first-ever community center and headquarters by painting walls, murals, signage, and wooden furniture. Clean Up, Give Back facilitates community beautification campaigns, youth environmental engagement and education, as well as a host of other services that benefit both the community and the environment. Read more HERE.

Latin America

In Gravataí, Brazil, PPG employees and community volunteers brought color and brightness to 500 students from the Vinicius de Moraes Municipal School, revitalizing 11 classrooms, hallways, a playground, a courtyard and other outdoor spaces. “The colors play an important role in stimulating and creating creativity in everyday school life,” said Daniela Alós da Costa, director of the school.


More than 80 PPG and community volunteers beautified spaces at the Sagrada Familia Foundation School in Medellín, Colombia. The volunteers transformed classrooms, corridors, and the building’s exterior, while creating a mural that highlights the importance of loving and caring for the planet through day-to-day activities.


To learn more about how PPG employee volunteers beautify and transform communities around the world, visit ppg.com/about-ppg/en-US.