The UPS Foundation has increased its donations to support community safety programmes worldwide by 40% to $14 million – the highest amount of grant funding and in-kind support the company ever awarded to “advance humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery programmes”.
The combination of grants and in-kind services will go to more than 30 NGOs, non-profit organisations and United Nations (UN) agencies.
“Initiatives that aid refugees and advance community safety have never been more critical,” Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPS, said. “We always look for ways to apply our logistics expertise to help solve problems, save lives and build community resilience around the world. These are vital areas where we can work with our NGO and non-profit partners to make a real difference.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will receive a grant to support the expansion of the UPS Relief Link programme, which speeds up the distribution of critical supplies to refugees. To date, UPS Relief Link has helped more than 120,000 refugees, reducing the time it takes to equitably distribute urgent goods to those in refugee camps by 50%. The grant also will assist with emergency preparedness supply training and other important initiatives to aid refugees.
The UPS Foundation also will support the Asia Injury Prevention’s programmes “Helmets for Kids” and “Safe Roads. Safe Communities.” which will provide bike helmets for children in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam this year. Since “Helmets for Kids” started in 2011, child helmet usage has increased from 17% to 83% in the areas where the programme has been implemented and 289 children have been protected from traumatic brain injury in motorcycle crashes.
In addition, The UPS Foundation is expanding its logistical support and technical assistance with up to five UPS loaned executives scheduled for long-term assignments with NGOs. Managers will be loaned to organisations that need on-the-ground logistics expertise and support. For example, an executive from UPS’s Healthcare Group is helping to implement supply chain strengthening strategies for governments in Africa with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). A UPS Automotive Group executive will be on loan with a UN agency to analyse regional trucking operations in Africa and make key decisions on transportation needs and strategies moving forward. Another UPS executive will work with the WFP on pandemic preparedness.
Some of the other humanitarian organisations receiving grants for various initiatives will include American National Red Cross, CARE USA, Operation Hope, UNICEF, US Chamber of Commerce Corporate Citizenship Centre and World Food Program USA.
In addition, UPS extends its safe driving expertise to the communities it serves through UPS Road Code training, a teen safe driving programme. The training is offered in the USA in cooperation in conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of America and overseas with various youth development organisations. Taught by UPS volunteers and based on the company’s safe-driving methods, the programme is available to teens aged between 13 and 18. To date, more than 22,900 teenagers have participated. The programme has been extended to the UK, Canada, Germany and China. In April 2016, UPS plans to expand the programme into Mexico by giving a grant to Guis de Mexico A.C. Since the launch of the programme, The UPS Foundation has given $12.5 million in total Road Code contributions.
Other global safety initiatives receiving grant assistance include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the UPS Road Code programme in 2016 and Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez to support The Child Passenger Safety Educators Training Program, which provides training on child road safety.
