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The year 2019 marked McCormick & Company’s 130th anniversary and 79th annual Charity Day.
To celebrate these achievements, and to honor a longstanding tradition of making a difference in the communities we serve, employees around the world were encouraged to support hunger relief efforts and/or give time or money to local charities. While separate campaigns were held for each anniversary, both took place during the fall and winter months and were centered in strengthening the communities in which we live, work, and source.
McCormick’s 130th anniversary campaign was focused on hunger relief efforts. Those who participated supported food-insecure communities through local or virtual food drives or volunteering activities, and McCormick committed to match employee donations. We worked with hunger-relief partners to establish metrics to assess our progress toward the goal of 1.3 million meals. Either 12 lbs. or $1 donated were equivalent to 10 meals. Though many programs are still underway, we’ve already surpassed the million-meal mark and are well on our way to meeting our goal!
McCormick’s Charity Day was originally a day on which employees would work and donate their pay—matched dollar for dollar by the company—to local charities. Over the years, Charity Day has expanded beyond a one-day event, and now takes place over an extended period, at McCormick locations in various regions of the world. (Learn about the history behind Charity Day here). The employees who chose to participate in the 79th Annual Charity Day had the opportunity to donate either time or money to their choice of charity, as well as organizations included in McCormick’s Flavor for Life program, which works with community partners, nonprofit organizations and government agencies to provide education on healthy eating to children, adults and families.
Below are some hunger-relief and Charity Day highlights from teams around the world.
Australia:
The McCormick Australia team partnered with OzHarvest, an organization that provides food to those in need and focuses on nutrition education and food-waste elimination. Herbs and spices are especially valuable to them, so they were delighted to receive a donation from McCormick at the Melbourne branch.
Canada, Italy, Iberia, Spain, Portugal. and Ukraine:
Canada, Italy, Iberia, Spain, Portugal, and Ukraine organized food drives for local food banks that brought in nearly 18,000 meals combined.
China:
The McCormick China team conducted their first-ever Charity Week event to celebrate the 130th anniversary. Their efforts included a partnership with the McCormick Tmall Flagship Store to sell products for charity. More than 100 products were sold, and McCormick matched the donation, contributing over CNY 140,000 to the company’s charity funds.
El Salvador:
To celebrate the 130th Anniversary, McCormick de Centro América employees served 1,329 breakfast meals at Posada Santa María, a hunger-relief program hosted by a local church. In addition to supporting this event with time and food donations, earlier in the year McCASA held a food drive that resulted in 40,000 meals donated through a United Nations campaign.
For Charity Day, 56 McCASA employees spent a day volunteering at Love Link, a nutritional recovery center for babies and children. The employees remodeled bedrooms, painted walls, decorated, and donated 10 cribs with mattresses and five feeding chairs.
France:
In France, employees built on their existing partnership with the organization Les Restaurants du Coeur de Vaucluse. Food boxes and piggy banks were placed in all sites to encourage monetary donations as well as food, household items, personal care, and baby care products. In total, 5,000 meals were collected.
India:
McCormick India held a food drive that collected a total of 7,000 meals. Food was distributed to people in need by McCormick employees in collaboration with several local organizations. Among them were Robin Hood Army, an organization that collects surplus food from restaurants or manufacturers for distribution to people in need in India and 12 other countries; Leprosy Slum, a shelter for leprosy patients; and Diksha School, a school for underprivileged children that has partnered with McCormick India for three years.
Japan:
For the last 20 years, McCormick Japan has given to a local orphanage close to the plant. The most recent donation included holiday meals and desserts for the children, the equivalent of JPY 140,473.
Poland:
At the Stefanowo and Lodz locations, the PR team led an initiative about how to reduce food waste and promote sustainable habits, providing reusable lunch boxes to employees, all while collecting food and monetary donations for local charities and homeless shelters. Between both locations, employees collected a total of 4,041 meals.
Russia:
Russia’s 130th anniversary celebrations were in partnership with Kovcheg, a local charity that supports poverty-stricken families with children.
Romania:
The Romania team volunteered at a children’s charity and collected monetary donations for the Red Cross, collecting 3,500 total meals for the food-insecure.
Singapore:
McCormick’s team in Singapore harvested food from local crops and held a food drive, donating 954.6 lbs. of food (790 total meals) to the Singapore Food Bank.
South Africa:
The South Africa team donated a total of 11,040 meals by organizing bake sales, splitting up by department for friendly competition. All of the money raised was donated to KFC Add Hope Foundation.
Thailand:
In Thailand, SEA Smile, an employee engagement committee, organized an activity at a school near McCormick’s Amata factory. The team partnered with Baan Bang Khao school to make improvements to its playground area, provide clothing donations, and donate food for students in need.
Turkey:
For their Charity Day efforts, the Turkey office raised funds to help replace trees lost in the recent Izmir wildfires.
United Kingdom:
A “Passion for Giving” team dedicated to the 130th anniversary challenge led a food drive for local food banks at both the Haddenham and Littleborough locations as well as a bake-off using herbs and spices, collecting a total of 870 meals.
US – Global Headquarters in Hunt Valley, MD:
For 130th Anniversary efforts, 449 employees spent an entire day packing holiday meal boxes for the Maryland Food Bank, packing more than 20,000 meals in 5,200 meal boxes for food-insecure Marylanders to enjoy during the holidays.
Various events and activities took place during Charity Day, such as Penny Wars, a fundraising competition among employees with a goal to collect as many pennies for charity as possible, which raised $4,832); a visit from Pets on Wheels, an organization that brings the joy of pet therapy to people all over the state of Maryland; and a Chef Executive Cooking Challenge, where employees watched members of McCormick’s management committee test their kitchen skills in a cooking challenge.
US – Dallas, Texas; Salinas, California; Springfield, Missouri; and South Bend, Indiana plants:
The Dallas plant held an onsite non-perishable food collection and thanked participants for their contribution by giving away duffle bags. The team’s efforts resulted in an impressive 4,198 meals. In Salinas, the 67 full-time employees donated 479 pounds of food through a local food drive. The French’s team in Springfield celebrated Charity Day for the first time and collected 1,013 pounds of food. The South Bend plant also held a food collection drive and collected enough food for 1,298 meals.
US – Gretna, Louisiana
For Charity Day, the Zatarain’s team held a partnership with the Pelicans basketball team and the Slam Dunk program. Every time a Pelicans player makes a slam dunk during the season, Zatarain’s donated rice to the Second Harvest Food Bank. So far, they’ve donated 364 pounds of food.
And for McCormick’s 130th anniversary, Zatarain’s partnered with the Saints football team and the United Way to help rebuild a local elementary school. The day generated over $5,000 in community impact and 485 servings of jambalaya for school lunches.
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