Community relations
Sustaining goodness through volunteerism
Throughout our company’s history, our associates have volunteered locally. As we look to the future, we will better align our volunteerism to our global strategy and sustainability pillars, which we believe holds the power to connect our associates to our mission in a more personal way.
Our plan was to drive and operationalize global volunteerism in 2020. However, we made the decision to pause our efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re excited to accelerate our volunteerism and related programming based on guidance from credible health agencies and local governments as vaccines reach more people.
Here are impact stories highlighting how our associates volunteered before the pandemic:
Beautifying the Beach in Puerto Rico
For several years, Avantor associates and their families have gathered to restore the pristine Puerto Rico shoreline. The initiative, called “Clean the Beach,” empowers our associates to demonstrate their commitment to environmental stewardship while enjoying the great outdoors with co-workers and family.
Participants gathered more than 45 bags of trash, including litter, furniture, and tires, returning the Los Tubos beach in Manatí, Puerto Rico to its natural beauty and ensuring visitors can enjoy this special place as much as the Avantor team.
Tidying the Trail in Canada
Associates in our Mississauga, Canada, office made a commitment to their community to keep Mullet Creek Park clean. Located across the street from our Mississauga office, associates could be regularly found walking the trails during lunch breaks. To raise awareness on environmental impacts as well as to establish a teambuilding volunteer activity, Mississauga associates volunteered their time during lunch breaks to help clean the park and create a better environment for the community.
To honor this commitment, our associates received a certificate from the City of Mississauga for completing the Don’t Be a LitterBug Campaign. The City of Mississauga’s adopt a park program, the Don’t be a LitterBug Campaign, encourages partnerships with volunteers to create a cleaner environment at public municipal parks.
Sprucing Up the Schoolyard in Ireland
In honor of National Workplace Wellbeing Day, Avantor associates in Ireland organized several events to support the Foxfield Special School, serving students aged 4 to 18 with autistic spectrum disorder and moderate learning difficulties.
So inspired by the school’s mission, our associates decided to take things farther. To help students enjoy the upcoming school year, two teams of Avantor associates helped paint and tidy up the school’s grounds to welcome the children back and give them a refreshed environment in which to play and learn.
At the end of the project, our associates were thrilled to give back to a school doing such great work in the local community.