Schneider employees make time for their communities at the occasion of #GivingTuesday
Rueil-Malmaison, France
21/12/2020
For the third year running, Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, rallied colleagues around the world to support #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving. This movement, held annually, inspires the generosity of people and organizations to support local communities and non-profit organizations around the world.
For Schneider and its employees, the event this year was a great opportunity to build on the work already started through the Schneider Electric Foundation’s “Tomorrow Rising Fund.” This was set up in April 2020 to support response and relief activities for communities impacted by the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marcela Lazzari, an engineer in Schneider’s Energy Application Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been volunteering for ten years -- it gives her a greater sense of wellbeing. “In the beginning, you want to completely change people's reality. Then you realize that even for a day, we can make such a difference.”
#GivingTuesday this year was on December 1, and throughout the month of December, Schneider employees, were encouraged to contribute either by volunteering or by making financial donations.
Employees choose causes close to their hearts
Employees are passionate about different causes, and Schneider was proud to support their choices so countries and individuals could choose who, what, and how to support on a local level.
This year saw an increased level of participation with employees from over 50 countries participating, and despite the restrictions of the pandemic, volunteers managed to help local communities.
You have to make the time to make an impact
For Schneider, #GivingTuesday is global giving movement with a local impact. It’s about making the time to give a helping hand to those less fortunate than ourselves.
“Time is a created thing,” commented Commence Nkomo, a Schneider Systems Architect in South Africa when asked why volunteering to teach students. “It was not because we had time, instead we made time...and it was worth it over and over again!”
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In Brazil, a crowd-funding event raised money for 100 socially vulnerable teenagers living near Schneider’s Sao Paulo offices. The funds raised will be donated to a local NGO, CORE, which will work alongside Schneider to provide life-skills workshops to these young people early next year.
“This idea is replacing traditional gift-giving at Christmas time with future opportunities for our underprivileged youth. I’m so proud of how our employees gather around such an important matter -- quality education for all,” said Rafael Segrera, South America President.
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Throughout 2020, US employees have supported 168 charities by volunteering their time, making financial donations and even enrolling in payroll deductions to help causes around education, assistance for the hungry, and medical aid. The North America Schneider Foundation matched financial donations and provided financial gifts to organizations where our employees donated their time. Reinforcing the GivingTuesday message during December helped increase participation.
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Teams in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka supported eight NGOs in distributing family hygiene kits to office cleaners, and mobile data packs to help students continue their education, and in motivational training sessions for underprivileged children and electricians.
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Teams in Gichagi, Kenya, supported the Bridge International Academy, a school, to replace stolen water tanks in one of its education facilities for under-privileged children. Lily Mugo, Executive Assistant, International Operations was so proud of her team: “This is the second Giving Tuesday initiative employees are contributing to, and it is beautiful to see them collectively giving without expecting anything in return.”
In South Africa, where lockdown measures caused students to miss a lot of training, the local Schneider team provided three education partners, College of Cape Town, East Cape Midlands College and Vaal University of Technology, with digital training sessions.
Last but not least, in Nigeria, where Schneider’s partner Clayarts saw its store set on fire during social unrest in October, Schneider teams donated 3,750 items to renew the retailer’s stock.
Christophe Begat, General Manager said, “Though this may be a small block in the rebuilding effort… we are in this journey together.”
Global