We are grateful to all our employees around the globe who joined us in making the holidays a bit brighter for our neighbors. From organizing food and toy drives to volunteering at holiday events in our communities, here are some of the highlights.
Canada:
Employees at our Belleville Plant in Ontario organized a non-perishable food drive for Gleaners Food Bank to help feed those in need in our community.
The Belleville Plant also supported a local adopt-a-family initiative, “adopting” several families in the Quinte Region by donating gifts for six children.
Additionally, several Belleville employees volunteered their personal time to support Operation Red Nose, a local volunteer driving service that operates on the weekends and holidays throughout December. The program provides residents a safe way to get home when unable to safely drive their own vehicles, as cabs and ride shares in the rural areas can be hard to find.
At the Toronto Refinery, our colleagues organized a food drive benefiting the Food Banks of Canada.
United Kingdom:
Our colleagues in the United Kingdom raised funds for the Newham Christmas Toy Appeal, which our company, Tate & Lyle Sugars, matched. This is the 46th year we have supported the appeal, which aims to provide a Christmas stocking of new gifts to disadvantaged children in our East London community.
The Plaistow Plant hosted its 10th annual bake sale fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity which provides emotional, practical, physical and financial support to those in the U.K. living with cancer and their families.
Fifteen employees from the Thames Refinery, Plaistow Plant and our Bedford Street Office volunteered at the Newham Christmas Lunches for more than 100 isolated seniors, which we were proud to support as well through a £4,000 donation. Our volunteers helped set up and serve the lunch and play Bingo with the guests.
The four Christmas trees we bought to decorate the Thames Refinery, Plaistow Plant and Bedford Street Office provided funds to a local charity, Ambition, Aspire, Achieve, which works to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged and at-risk young people in our Newham community.
Colleague across the business wore a Christmas jumper this festive season and donated funds to Save the Children, which the company matched.
United States:
We were pleased to support the Contra Costa County, California Sheriff Office’s annual toy drive through a financial contribution, and Crockett Refinery employees held a drive on site to support the program.
In New York, our annual support for the Yonkers Family YMCA’s community garden program helped fund a visit from Santa Claus enjoyed by families in our Southwest Yonkers community.
In Baltimore, Maryland, we were proud to support the AFL-CIO Community Services of Central Maryland’s annual holiday food drive through a financial contribution and sugar donation. We also sponsored a holiday cookie contest in our neighborhood and helped Baltimore kick off the holiday season by sponsoring the annual lighting of the city’s Washington Monument.
In Chalmette, Louisiana, our donation of sugar to the Christian Fellowship Family Worship Center’s holiday meal box program helped sweeten the holidays for 350 local families. We also donated sugar to help support St. Mary’s Church in Raceland, Louisiana.
