Why General Mills mixes in health care

When it comes to social responsibility, most companies are content to write out checks--often in large numbers--and let it go at that. General Mills is one company that likes to establish operating ventures that involve corporate officers and champion a cause. Such a venture is Altcare, a nonprofit organization designed to find more effective and less expensive ways of caring for elderly people who are getting frail but do not require acute care. In 1983, when the company chose this area as its next project, it realized it needed help from an organization with vast experience in the geriatric field. So it enlisted a nearby organization, the Wilder Foundation, and went into partnership as Altcare. The partnership has launched a service network for victims of Alzheimer's disease, a program with three other institutions to meet the myriad needs of chronically impaired people, and an unusual residence for physically impaired people, among other ventures. Altcare looks for advances and ideas that can be replicated, and the partnership often lends money to entrepreneurs who want to launch pioneering efforts or replicate Altcare initiatives. The cost to General Mills: about $80,000 a year after taxes, plus its share of any losses in project investments incurred by Altcare.