This year, LyondellBasell marked its 24th anniversary of Global Care Day by aligning this annual day of service with World Food Day in October. A remarkable 97 LYB sites joined hands in a global initiative to combat hunger, address food insecurity and champion the cause of good health and well-being. An estimated 2,600 dedicated coworkers participated and generously contributed 16,000 hours of volunteer work translating to $508,000 in the value of volunteer hours served. LYB’s global efforts on World Food Day yielded a generous donation of 144,000 pounds (65,200 kilograms) of food to local charitable organizations, benefiting nearly 110,000 people.
"At LyondellBasell, we are dedicated to creating solutions for healthier, sustainable and equitable communities, now and for generations to come,” CEO Peter Vanacker said. “No one, adult or child, should go to bed, work or school hungry. I’m extremely proud that our team, LyondellBasell, took action on World Food Day to address this global community crisis. And as a member of the United Nations Global Compact, participating in World Food Day demonstrates our commitment to the U.N. sustainable development goals and zero hunger and good health and well-being.”
Check out the highlights from LYB's volunteer efforts from around the world during International Volunteer Day on Dec. 5:
ASIA
Beijing donated 480 kilograms of grain to LeLing Elderly Care Institutions and helped pack food bags to support Elderly Healthy Walking.
Hong Kong donated 14 boxes of food to Food Angel. They had 154 volunteers and served 2,112 lunch boxes and 1,833 dinner boxes.
Mumbai donated 2,300 kilograms of various types of food grains to the central kitchens of the NGOs. Approximately 4,200 meals can be served from the stock of food grains provided. They coordinated with Khushiyaan Foundation, Salaam Balak Trust, Gyan Vikas Aarambh and Shree Saidham Vruddhashram Trust.
Rayong donated rice to feed the children of Ban Huai Mara School for a month.
Shanghai sorted, packed and donated 139 boxes of food to Green Food Bank along with $6,000 to support advancing communities and sustainable projects.
Suzhou donated food to neighborhoods to help families in need and collaborated with Suzhou Industrial Park Yingchun Flower Love Federation. Employee children joined the knowledge competition for World Food Day and learned about agriculture development in China.
EUROPE
Ferrara participated in a volunteer marathon, a 12-hour non-stop day collecting food from local supermarkets. The group hosted a musical charity event at a local social centre in Ferrara (Il Quadrifoglio), where free food was offered in exchange for good music. Citizens of all ages were invited to come and offer food as a gift to be used for charitable purposes.
Milton Keynes collected grocery items which were donated to The Bus Shelter, an organization that provides food and shelter for the homeless.
Moerdijk collaborated with Primary School De Toren to deliver 170 healthy lunch boxes to children and teachers. Employees also gave students interactive educational sessions on how LYB products help create everyday sustainable living.
Rotterdam collaborated with Voedselbank Rotterdam to volunteer in 10 local supermarkets, collecting crates of food and supplies from shoppers. Four Feyenoord women's first-team players also participated in this volunteer event. They collected food for Yess! to provide weekly food packages for more than 150 households and breakfast to 15 primary schools in Delfshaven, Rotterdam.
Wesseling donated 450 kilograms of food in collaboration with Jutta's Suppenküche. They prepared 280 food bags made of sustainable materials. The group undertook community initiatives with the local food bank, local school education programs and neighborhood maintenance.
NORTH AMERICA
Akron, Ohio volunteered with individuals from Akron ICC and Akron Exeter at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. Employees sorted pallets of mislabeled items, unboxed and relabeled them before re-boxing them for distribution to local food pantries to provide 1,919 meals.
China, Texas collaborated with Hardin Jefferson Hunger Initiative, donating 379 separate food items that served 107 families. They also donated 72 COVID tests to the county.
Houston Engineering Center collaborated with VV Ramsey Veteran's Center to donate 75 food bags, 50 hygiene bags and restock the coffee bar/snack bar. Employees donated $2,700 in food to Sarah's House and $3,000 in food, weighing 1,952 pounds, to The Bridge Over Troubled Waters. They served lunch to all the residents and volunteered to beautify the property and clean up the outdoor children's area.
Houston-area sites hosted a collective project at the Houston Food Bank with 494 volunteers working on the pantry and rice-sorting projects. The pantry project contributed 39 pallets, 15,827 meals and the rice-sort project contributed 26,880 pounds of food and 22,399 meals.
Lake Charles, Louisiana fed 270 people in the community, delivering eight pans of jambalaya to a local soup kitchen, Abraham's Tent. Volunteers also provided 60 meals to Westlake Senior Center.
Morris, Illinois collaborated with WeCare with pantry assistance. The site built several sections of warehouse-style shelving and stocked them. The team packed over 1,000 bags for the Blessings in a Backpack program, which provides children with food on the weekends.
Perrysburg, Ohio made a financial donation to purchase healthy snacks for Connecting Kids to Meals. Volunteers assembled 1,416 ziploc bags of treats, totaling 1,239 pounds of food, for children in need. Volunteers also made handwritten notes of encouragement to go into each child’s bag.
SOUTH AMERICA
Pindamonhangaba collaborated with Casa Transitoria Fabiano De Cristo De Pindamonhangaba to collect 6,165 kilograms of food to serve approximately 600 families (2,400 people).
São Paulo helped Abrigo Irmã Tereza collect basic food baskets with rice, beans, oil, sugar, coffee, salt, spaghetti, tomato sauce and cornmeal. In total, the team collected 1,056 items weighing 697 kilograms.
LyondellBasell goes beyond volunteerism to improve food security by making and selling products to become solutions for protective agriculture netting, packaging and other films that maintain food freshness by extending shelf-life and enabling food for world-wide distribution. LYB is committed to the development and manufacturing of high-quality, innovative products for food, water and healthcare safety, creating solutions for everyday sustainable living.