Grassroots campaign sees Purolator tackle hunger (National HR Awards)

Winner: Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program

Grassroots campaign sees Purolator tackle hunger (National HR Awards)
Purolator partners with the Canadian Football League for the initiative, hosting a game-day food drive in each of the league’s nine cities, with fans invited to bring cash or food donations in exchange for a chance to have their picture taken with the Grey Cup. Courtesy: Purolator

 

 

 

For the past 15 years, Purolator has been on a mission to deliver results to Canadian food banks.

Through the Purolator Tackle Hunger program, the courier company has delivered millions of pounds of food to organizations in need across the country, according to Karen White-Boswell, director of corporate communications at the Purolator headquarters in Mississauga, Ont.

“This is an absolute grassroots initiative,” she says. “It was formalized in 2003, but prior to that, it was our employees who actually recognized this need in their communities. The executive team at Purolator saw how passionate our employees were and we took it up as an overall corporate cause.”

As a Canadian organization, Purolator recognizes it’s not just important to be a good business partner, but also to be a part of the community and help leave communities better than when it came to them, says White-Boswell.

“We also recognize that our employees are not just employees; they’re parts of communities, families. Recognizing the broader extent of who our employees are, we also recognize that they have a strong belief in this cause. It matters and it gives them great pride.”

Food, football, trucks

Purolator Tackle Hunger Week is held annually during the first week of June, challenging employees, agents and customers to donate food and money to community food banks. Combined with a variety of events, the week-long food drive ensures all donations stay within their respective communities.

The company also leverages social media during Purolator Tackle Hunger Week by donating one pound of food for every new like on its Facebook page, share of a campaign-related post, or tweet using the hashtag #TackleHunger.

With more than 10,000 employees staffing 175 operations facilities in Canada, Purolator has been able to support a wide variety of food banks across the country thanks to its corporate social responsibility programming.

“Every year when we kick this off, there’s not a question about continuing and driving forward and making it better and bringing more awareness, because it’s important for people to understand what this impact is all about,” says White-Boswell.

Purolator partners with the Canadian Football League for the initiative, hosting a game-day food drive in each of the league’s nine cities, with fans invited to bring cash or food donations in exchange for a chance to have their picture taken with the Grey Cup.

“This is a cause that not only are our employees passionate about, but our partners are passionate about,” says White-Boswell. “It is something that impacts all of us in the sense that every one of us is in a community. Every one of us knows those around us, and hunger isn’t something that has a specific face or name. It can happen to anyone at any time. And, as a result, we need to recognize as a community, as an organization, and as individuals that it’s our role to help one another. So looking at tackling hunger in our communities is a connection that makes sense. I think that’s why it’s been so successful.”

Employee efforts aren’t restricted to that week, however. Throughout the year, Purolator workers participate in a back-to-school cereal challenge, which sees branch locations collect boxes of cereal for students across the country. Additionally, the program includes an online holiday auction, with proceeds going to food banks.

Other concurrent events include an employee softball tournament, community Pack the Purolator challenges and fundraising barbecues.

Over the years, the company has also donated 20 refurbished curbside delivery vehicles to food banks.

With many food-bank users unable to travel to and from their respective food banks, some facilities keep a delivery truck on-site, though it can often prove to be a large expenditure for non-profit organizations, she says. Hearing of this need, Purolator began donating older trucks that were being cycled out of its delivery rotation, working with mechanics and decal companies to adequately prepare them.

Typically, two or three vehicles are donated each year.

“We prep it, get it certified, help them with their decaling, and then we donate it,” says White-Boswell.

Trust your staff

When setting up corporate outreach initiatives, it’s important to remember it is employees who best understand their community’s respective needs, she says.

“One of the greatest things about the Purolator Tackle Hunger program is that it is really a grassroots initiative that recognizes the connection our employees have in their communities… Our employees go out and volunteer at the food banks, food drives. They really are an integral part of making a difference in our communities.”

Additionally, any corporation that can make a difference in its community should do so, says White-Boswell.

“There are a lot of needs,” she says. “Understanding what’s passionate for your employees but also understanding that as corporations, organizations and individuals, we do owe our communities. To be connected and aware is a very important facet… It’s about being overall good corporate citizens.”

Further, empathetic listening is critical when determining which cause to support from a corporate standpoint.

“When we’re giving and supporting people in our community, we need to do it with an open mind without judgment, and with the ability to understand that we’re not to project what they need onto them, but to listen for what they ask for, supporting them in the way they need to be supported,” says White-Boswell.

While it can be heart-wrenching to hear stories from food-bank users, it is just as heart-warming to understand the difference your organization is making to people’s lives, she says.

“The corporate stewardship for this organization goes beyond just tackling hunger. But tackling hunger is a very good, centralized point that we emanate from,” says White-Boswell.

“As large as Canada is, it’s like a really large village. We have to be there for one another and support one another. That’s something that Purolator as a whole supports.”

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