We believe passion sets a higher ceiling on what you can do for others. The things you care about the most are probably the things you do the best. Getting involved in CSR projects that you are passionate about and being part of deciding where the money should go, is rewarding – both for the people it may concern, as well as the end result.
The Greencarrier Spirit Fund – encouraging everyone to get involved in CSR projects
Each year we put aside one percent of our yearly profit in a fund with the objective to use it for CSR projects within Greencarrier Spirit. All employees within the group are welcome to apply for money to support CSR activities. This is a way to enable all employees to get more involved, and influence which projects Greencarrier should support.
By doing it this way all our CSR projects, to some extent, reflect the passion of our employees. We don’t distinguish between big or small projects, local or global projects, as long as they live up to two (or more) of our set criteria: focus on the environment, connection to the local countries where we are present, be related to our business, long term commitment, a project where we can be involved (not just donations), and if the project involves supporting an organisation, we should be able to ensure that the money is used correctly.
The projects our employees’ hearts go out to and that we have chosen to support
We have many good examples of how we work with sustainability. Our involvement in some of the projects started many years ago, and some are new:
Beach cleaning in Hong Kong to minimise the environmental impact of plastic pollution
Outside of Hong Kong there are several islands, some are inhabited and some are not. What they all have in common is that a lot of trash is washed up on the shores every day, mainly coming with the tides from the big oceans outside. In May 2014 the Greencarrier offices in Hong Kong and Shenzhen organised a beach cleaning day in Hong Kong at Po Toi Island. Doing this, we hope to bring up some thoughts and reflections about how we all can make small changes in our lives towards a large positive change, and perhaps also influence others to reduce the amount of trash through shared grass root efforts.
Shipment of shoes to the Sherpas, taking responsibility for the world we live in
In October 2014 we sponsored an air freight shipment for Haglöfs to Kathmandu, Nepal. Haglöfs has together with adventurer Ola Skinnarmo gone into a project to supply the Sherpas with shoes, in all 250 pairs. The Sherpas help visitors reach their destination, climbing the mountains, taking the lead, carrying all the equipment – not too dissimilar to how we make sure everything is set to get our customer’s shipments to their target destination. Their working conditions are really tough and proper footwear is a basic, basal thing in that environment. By helping the Sherpas we show that we are not only a logistics provider, but also a socially responsible company that takes responsibility for the world we live in.
Homework support to contribute to children’s right to education in all regions
Save the Children runs a national project by the name of On Equal Terms. The purpose is to establish a long-term initiative for children’s rights in socially and economically deprived regions. Staff from Greencarrier Sweden supports this project by visiting a homework support project in Hjällbo, a suburb to Gothenburg in Sweden, two days a month to help children in grades three to five with their homework. We do not only help with homework after school, but also pay part of the rent of the premises, thus contributing with both time and money. This is very important to us as we believe children should be able to benefit from homework support, or other activities, in their immediate surroundings, whether it is in the suburb or the city.
Volunteering and economical support to help victims in disaster areas
When catastrophes appear around the world we sometimes donate money to the Red Cross and their work to help the victims in these disaster areas. For example, in 2013 we donated money to help the victims in the typhoon catastrophe in the Philippines where thousands of people lost their lives and even more lost their homes. Staff in Helsinki also volunteered to raise money. Another example is when we in 2014 supported with money for food parcels to families in Syria. Volunteering and giving economical support is one way for us to show that we are not only citizens of society, but of the entire world. Together we take a global corporate responsibility.
Charity golf to raise money for Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital
Greencarrier is involved in Barngolfen (The Children’s golf), which is the largest charity golf in the Nordic countries with a fundraising purpose for the children’s hospital, Drottning Silvias Barnsjukhus in Sweden. The money raised is used for making life easier for the children and to foster the recovery by creating a healing environment and meaningful moments. In 2014 the golf tournament raised 2.2 MSEK, which is the best fundraising amount in the history for Barngolfen. We are very proud to be a part of the golf tournament and to help these children, who often spend a long time in the hospital.
Supporting children in Latvia to stay away from the streets and instead play football
The Football School Metta has a special philosophy of teaching not only the game, but also discipline and attitude for life. Together with Metta, Greencarrier in Latvia has created a fund to support children in families that want their children to play football, but don’t have sufficient funds to let them. By doing this we hope to help children stay away from the streets and instead have fun playing football together with other children.
Funding heart surgeries of poor children in China to create a future
In Shanghai, China, we support Heart-to-Heart which is an organisation that helps fund heart surgeries for children who come from very poor families. It costs at least a lot of money to repair a child’s heart defect at the hospitals with which we work. Many families in rural China are not fully covered by medical benefits and are unable to raise the money for the operation for their child. So far we have helped two children with their surgeries. This is very important to us as the future of these children highly rely on financial resources.
Collecting gifts and selling gingerbread to benefit the homeless in Gothenburg
In Sweden, Gothenburg, we contribute to The Rescue Mission of Gothenburg’s work for the homeless by paying part of a field worker’s salary. We also take part in their network meetings. For several years Greencarrier staff in Gothenburg has collected Christmas gifts to people in need, and in 2014 staff also helped sell gingerbread houses at the Christmas Fair Liseberg, in support of their work with the homeless in Gothenburg. Everyone has the right to a dignified life, and by supporting the homeless we may help them avoid situations which lead to aggravate the vulnerability of people, like abuse of alcohol and other substance abuses.
Collecting money for every child’s right to participate in sports
The foundation Idrott för alla (Sports for all) collects money to provide a meaningful leisure time for children in Skellefteå, Sweden. We believe that money should never be a barrier for children participating in sports. We are social creatures who need to feel that we have others we can connect and share commonalities with. Participating in sports is one way of doing that. By supporting the foundation we give these children a chance to feel that they are part of a community, and have the right to be, just like everyone else.
Aid shipment to Ghana to support a vocational school for girls
Greencarrier in Skellefteå, Sweden is involved in a Rotary Club in Umeå called UCFFRK. For 19 years they have supported the village Awisa-Apaaso in Ghana with equipment to a vocational school for girls, such as school uniforms and material for the finalisation of a school library. As part of the project, we handled a container shipment filled with various items such as clothes, TVs, copying machines, children’s toys, a table tennis table, plastic chairs, learning materials and shoes. All items were donated by the members of the Rotary Club and other local organisations in Umeå. Our hope is to contribute with not only our money, but also our knowledge, now and in the future, based on a long-term commitment.
If you want to learn more about the Greencarrier Spirit or how we work with CSR, don’t hesitate to contact us! You can also visit our website for more information or pop by our social media channels to get more news and updates!
