Last week an Operational Excellence team from the UK spent a morning Lending a Hand day at the Coventry Food Bank, close to the Cemex UK head office.
Together, the team spent the morning sorting all the Foodbank donations into food parcels – each one containing a minimum of three days of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable, tinned and dried food. The team learnt a lot about the work the food banks do to support communities both locally and internationally.
The Coventry Foodbank is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. Further Lend a Hand opportunities for colleagues based at Binley are now being planned. They have recently received National Lottery funding which has been invested in large fridge/freezer storage facilities and a kitchen facility on site. This means they can now provide fresh produce in their food parcels, including fresh soups made on site. The recipients of the parcels will therefore be receiving healthy, fresh, and nutritious food (not just baked beans and rice!).
The wider aid they provide to children in Zimbabwe and South Africa continues to grow, with a new program rolled out to educate UK school children on the Global food crisis, which involves the children helping to weigh and pack the food for shipping to Africa.
While there last year, the team offered some operational improvements to the Foodbank manager and they were delighted to see, on this recent visit, that some of their ideas have now implemented. As a result, the speed of their packing process has increased and several of their volunteers commented about the improvements.
The team reported back that the Foodbank were desperately short of certain items and so collection is being arranged at our Head Office for people to donate specific items.
Volunteering is part of Cemex’s commitment to sustainable development, and all employees are encouraged to actively engage in activities that contribute to improving the quality of life and well-being in cities and communities where we live and operate.
If you are interested in taking your team for a Lend a Hand activity this year, please contact Chiedza Mupfumira, Social Impact Specialist, to discuss opportunities in your local area.