San Francisco, Jan 22 (IANS): Keeping up with the ongoing Martin Luther King Day celebrations, Apple announced that as part of its "Giving" programme, the amount donated by its employees in 2018 to help non-profit organisations globally exceeded $125 million with over 250,000 hours of volunteer work.

The programme came into existence three years ago where for every hour an Apple employee gives, or dollar they donate, the company provides matching funds for both with volunteers working across the globe including in China where Apple is one of the only global companies matching employee donations.

"Thirty-two Chinese charitable organisations are now eligible to receive funds, including the 'China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation' which aided more than 175,000 people across 24 provinces with disaster relief and preparedness in 2018 alone," the iPhone-maker wrote in a blog-post on Monday.

Over the weekend, Apple CEO Tim Cook also became part of the volunteering efforts in San Jose.

"Sixty years ago, Dr. King called on all of us to make a career of humanity. 'You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in'," Cook tweeted.

The programme has been assisting several local communities including the "Point of Pride" charity that gives support to transgender people.

"The organisation linked up with an Apple employee who since then has organised almost 20 writing sessions at the company's Cupertino, Austin and Sacramento campuses which were attended by hundreds of employees," the post added.

The post also noted that in "Second Harvest Food Bank" in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which includes most of Silicon Valley, in 2018 provided almost 55 million meals.

"Apple's history of volunteering with 'Second Harvest' goes back to 2000 and in 2018, its employees spent almost 3,000 hours sorting and distributing food, which makes the food bank one of the largest recipients of Apple volunteer hours in the US," the post said.

Apple has been teaching subjects like coding, drawing, photography, music and videography at underprivileged schools in Ireland and other areas to help students expand their career prospects.