Three years after Apple Chief Tim Cook announced the company will match its employees' donations, the program has reached more than US$50 million for charity.

In addition, the Cupertino, California-based Mac maker announced Thursday that the program will be extended to all countries where Apple has stores.

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In an interview with Mercury News, the company said that the program originally included the United States and a number of other nations only.

Apple also announced that it will start to donate on companies that its employees are volunteering at, for US$25 per hour.

Denise Young Smith, vice president of Apple's worldwide human resources, told Mercury News that the company was inspired by the generosity of its employees and is proud of their passion for helping others.

"Apple believes deeply in leaving the world better than we found it," she said.

The program began in 2011, when Cook announced that the company will match the contributions its employees give to several non-profit organizations up to US$10,000 every year.

One of the recipients of the matching program was the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which was able to improve the services it offers because of the donations from Apple.

According to James Loduca, the foundation's vice president for philanthropy and public affairs, the money from Apple have been beneficial for the foundation's function.

Additionally, other local charitable institutions, said the program has inspired other philanthropies and local citizens to donate.

Executive director Emily O'Brien of the Northern California chapter of Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, said following Apple's programs, the number of gifts they received have doubled.

According to Peter Frumkin, University of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy's faculty director, Apple's move was a way to ensure employees' loyalty and a way of upholding their social responsibility.

When the program started, it was only limited to the United States, but by the end of 2011, countries like the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada and Singapore, have also been included.

TagsMac, Tim Cook