Community Involvement
VOLUNTEER WORK
Cargill’s volunteer program is comprised of 360 employees. In 2009, sixty professionals at the company’s headquarters in São Paulo joined the initiative and participated in training courses taught by a Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) consultant on corporate social responsibility and practices considered in Cargill Foundation’s volunteer activities. Program participants across Brazil undergo refresher training every year. Concern about the role of qualified volunteers includes distribution among the volunteers of tools such as the Volunteer Notebook, providing information and guidelines for volunteer programs and other Cargill Foundation programs, and the Volunteer Booklet, which provides suggestions for interactive activities created with the principles and objectives of the Fura-Bolo and Grain by Grain Programs.
The II National Meeting of Volunteer Coordinators was held in Mairiporã (state of São Paulo), bringing together 38 company professionals who hold positions in 13 of the cities where Fura-Bolo and “Grain by Grain” programs are run. The meeting made it possible to exchange experiences and ideas and reinforce collective commitment as well as the values on which actions taken should be based. The activities touched on topics such as leadership, teamwork, communication, problem-solving and focus on results.
In São Paulo, volunteers participated in a social responsibility activity with around 30 children sheltered by the Maria Helen Drexel institution, which provides support for young people at risk, offering foster homes. The children and adolescents of the institution attended drama classes during a period of eight months in order to put together a play inspired by texts from the “Brazil of All of Us” book in the Fura-bolo collection. The costumes used by the cast, preparation of scenarios, photographs, video recording, security, monitoring, distribution of tickets, as well as distribution of food on the day of the event were all organized and handled by Cargill volunteers. The play was performed at the Live Theatre (Teatro Vivo), in the city of Paulo, to an audience of over 200 people. Those who came to watch the play collaborated by bringing a food donation for the institution.
