For 25 years, John Hancock has been the lead sponsor of the Boston Marathon, and hundreds of Hancock and Manulife employees have used waived entries to run the marathon. This is the fourth year that employees have been asked to fundraise on behalf of the community, and US runners will again be supporting Mayor Thomas Menino's teen summer jobs initiative.

Since the marathon takes place in the Boston area, John Hancock sees the non-profit marathon fundraising program as a way to give back to Boston, our U.S. headquarters. This year, employees participating in the program are required to raise a minimum of $1,500 to support summer jobs for Boston teens through the Fund for Parks and Recreation. At a time when teen unemployment is at record levels, these jobs play an important role in building a strong workforce for the future.

In 2009, employee runners raised enough funds to provide 100 summer jobs for teens at a cost of approximately $1,500 per youth. These jobs are in addition to the 550 Boston Summer Scholars positions provided by the Hancock -Boston Globe-Boston University-Partners HealthCare partnership. This brings John Hancock's total to 650 jobs - the most jobs funded by any corporation in the country.

For those marathon fundraisers based in Canada, Manulife has committed to supporting Habitat for Humanity Canada. Please click here to set up an online fundraising page for Habitat.