Crisis
For a number of years now, Tata Global Beverages has donated tea bags to the Crisis at Christmas programme in the UK, and this, their 40th year, has been no exception. In addition, this year, a team made up of staff from Greenford and Uxbridge visited the Crisis depot on the Old Kent Road to lend a helping hand with preparations for Crisis at Christmas. The day consisted of sorting out 25 pallets of catering equipment into kits ready for distribution to nine centres in London – these will be used to provide 30,000 meals. We also made 360 bed rolls to be handed out to rough sleepers.
This was one of a number of 'Doing Good' activities undertaken by Tata Global Beverages’ employees in the run up to the festive season. Everyone in the group had a fantastic day working with people from outside their team and came back to the office raving about their experience and the wonderful work that Crisis is doing to end homelessness. Crisis at Christmas provides food, companionship, accommodation and access to vital medical and advice services to homeless people across the country. As well as donations from companies such as ours, some 8,000 volunteers support the project too, making it the largest volunteer event in the UK.
Hillingdon Food Bank
Another group of employees made their way over to a local organisation, Hillingdon Food Bank, to prepare festive food parcels. These parcels will be given out to families in need in the Uxbridge and Hillingdon area over the Christmas period. The group had a great time meeting new colleagues, packing the parcels to bursting point and throwing in some Tetley tea for good measure! It was great to know that we helped to bring some cheer to local families during the holiday season and we are looking forward to contributing to our communities next year.
Volunteering in the US
In December 2011, Tata Global Beverages in Montvale participated in a 'Dress for Success' clothing drive. Dress for Success is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing gently worn professional clothing to help them as they re-enter the workforce.
Sponsored by Montvale’s Culture Champion Team, a decorated box was placed in the lobby of the Montvale building. Many employees made generous contributions, which included women’s suits, jackets, coats, shoes, unused cosmetic samples, scarves, blouses, trousers and skirts. The box was completely filled every day for over two weeks.
During December the Montvale office also decided to do something special for their local Salvation Army Angel Tree Program. The Program organises for gifts to be provided to children in need who would otherwise be left out at Christmas. The Montvale team set an ambitious goal of raising $1,000 but the response was so overwhelming that in just three short weeks, they had exceeded that goal and raised $1,150! The company contributed a further $1,000 and their local Target (discount store) contributed a $50 gift card to make a grand total of $2,200. The donations were used to purchase clothing and toys from Target for children ages 1-12.
Volunteering in Canada
As part of a Culture Champion initiative, the Tata Global Beverages Canada team competed in a corporate food sorting challenge for the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto. This is a charity dedicated to eliminating hunger in and around Toronto
The enthusiastic group sorted over 3100 pounds of food in just less than 2 hours. Although they were not the fastest team, they certainly had fun and enjoyed helping out this wonderful charity.