Jim Hoffman is new to the ranks of Pfizer retirees. After 34 years with the company, he retired in June 2009, as director of Workplace Services Global Operations, Corporate Finance, in New York.
Over the years, Jim was involved in many projects at Pfizer. Helping with the site logistics and services during the integration of Warner-Lambert and Pharmacia was one project that he remembers with particular pride.
“The integration was new ground for Pfizer at the time as it was a real shift in our business model. Building the trust necessary to make it successful was rewarding,” he said.
He counts himself as fortunate to have been with Pfizer and seen it evolve through some of the company’s most challenging times. “Overall, I have always been impressed with the people,” he said.
In retirement, Jim is now focusing his full attention on another project and another group of people who have impressed him over the years. The group of people are the volunteers, mentors and athletes involved with the Queens Falcons youth football league in New York. The project is the Run to Daylight program, an organization that helps inner city youth in the Queens Falcons league to attend top private schools in the northeast and in the New York City area.
Jim has a long history of involvement with the 52-year old Queens Falcon football program. He and his younger brothers Greg and Stephen played in the league when they were young, and Jim’s father was a coach, mentor and volunteer.
The family involvement continued when Jim and his brothers became adults. “My younger brothers got very involved in 1986 as coaches and executive board members. They invited me to get involved in the mid 90’s and I have been involved ever since,” he said.
In 1997, Jim’s brother Stephen and another coach started the Run to Daylight program to help Queens Falcons student-athletes secure a top quality education not normally available to families of limited financial means. Tragically, Stephen lost his life in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. So it is with pride that Jim now serves as co-chair of the annual Stephen “The Coach” Hoffman Golf Classic fundraiser, and manages other fundraising events that support Run to Daylight.
Jim is very proud of the fact that the football league and the Run to Daylight program are helping inner city kids who, he says, often fall through the cracks.
“I have seen players transition from young confused kids into focused college graduates -- it’s a very powerful experience. This is powerful proof to me that a small group of committed individuals can make a big difference in the lives of people.”
Jim’s commitment has led him back to school where he’s studying to become a certified addiction counselor to youth. “If I can help a couple of youth, it will be worth it.”
The connection between his years of service with Pfizer and his current work with youth football is clear for Jim.
“I will always be grateful for the way Pfizer supported my efforts with Run to Daylight; they went above and beyond,” he said. “In the pharmaceutical business, we put a lot of energy into communicating our value to society, customers and communities we serve. Well, the young men I now serve are our future and getting them a primary and secondary education will impact society forever. At Pfizer, I made an impact and in retirement I am as well because of my experiences at Pfizer.”
