Chevron Philippines Inc., marketer of Caltex fuels and lubricants, manifests its dedication to enabling human progress through its annual Volunteer Week, this year celebrating women and livelihood empowerment, education and career appreciation, and coastal sustainability.
Now on its 12th year, Chevron encourages its employees and business partners to volunteer their time and energy to work for the improvement of the communities where they operate, focusing on projects that positively impact the women, youth, marginalized sector and environment.
More than 300 Chevron employees, contractors, suppliers, Caltex retailers and other Chevron business units volunteered to help the less fortunate ones.
Mothers Leading the Move Forward
Chevron Philippines Inc. commenced Volunteer Week 2019 with “Project MOVE,” an initiative aimed at empowering mothers by equipping them with the skills needed to start a sustainable business as a form of livelihood.
Employee volunteers from Caltex Makati Credit Cooperative (CMCC), together with 12 mothers from Barangay San Isidro, Makati participated in a basic meat processing workshop by Negoskwela, a leading livelihood and technology training center in the Philippines that produces globally competitive Filipino professionals and volunteers.
“We appreciate the CMCC volunteers because these types of workshops are better done one-on-one. It was helpful that there was a volunteer who could assist each mother from beginning to end. They were also able to explain to the mothers the instructions since our handouts were not translated into Filipino,” said Negoskwela Training Director Linda Binanitan while thanking the volunteers.
The mothers from the nearby barangay and the CMCC volunteers were taught how to prepare siomai (Chinese dumpling) and tocino (sweet cured pork) from scratch by showing them what ingredients are used to make the said dishes and guiding them through the cooking process.
They were also given starter kits containing cooking utensils, an apron and ingredients for the siomai and tocino, which they took home after the activity.
CPI, through CMCC, turned over stainless mixing bowls, aluminum cooking pots and a set of chef knives to Don Bosco Pugad, a halfway home for youth rescued from violence, domestic abuse, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The donated equipment will also serve to continue helping the migrant youth of Don Bosco Pugad run their bakery, located within the Don Bosco Makati compound.
Building Bridges for the Future
A total of eight Chevron volunteers and 43 teachers joined hands and shared their stories of hardships and eventual successes to the 429 junior high school students of San Pascual National High School (SPNHS) in a career talk and employment opportunities orientation in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for the second day of Volunteer Week 2019.
A group of accountants, engineers and managers from Chevron shared their personal adversaries and professional journeys to the students of SPNHS from picking a college course to landing a job at Chevron to inspire the grade 10 students, who are about to enter senior high school and choose a track of specialization.
“I’ve always had genuine interest in helping people,” said Ambhi San Andres, one of the speakers, as she explained how she realized she wanted to major in psychology. During her talk, she advised the students that the first step to figuring out what career path to take is analyzing one’s strengths and weaknesses.
The students connected with the speakers as they talked about their hardships and motivations and encouraged them to take a leap of faith in their chosen fields.
“The children needed to hear my story—the story of a poor kid who was able to improve his and his family’s life because of his career,” said Mel Medrano, lead operator at Chevron Batangas Terminal, whose message touched the hearts of the students.
One for the Turtles
The spirit of community reigns as Chevron concluded its12th Volunteer Week with the much-awaited annual coastal cleanup. Volunteers from CPI, MSSC, the Batangas Terminal, as well as local farmers, retailers and suppliers, joined together to collect trash and segregate them into color coded garbage bags to clean the long coastline of the Chevron Batangas Terminal, a nesting site for the Olive-Ridley sea turtles.
Since its regular security patrols and annual cleanup operations in 2007, Chevron has sighted more nesting grounds along the shore of Chevron Batangas Terminal.
Louie Zhang, Chevron Philippines Inc. country chairman reflected on the constant support of the participants and the positive turnout of the coastal cleanup “Here at Chevron, we place our highest priority to our people and the community where we operate. It’s uplifting to see old and new faces working towards a common goal of keeping this coast a sanctuary for the Olive-Ridley sea turtles. We would not be here, conducting our 12th Volunteer Week if not for the unrelenting support of our members, partners and the local community.”
Mae Belle Albay, Chevron Batangas Terminal operations supervisor, delivered the accomplishment report in the closing ceremony, with a volunteer turnout of almost 300Z clearing trash weighing 1.7 tons.
Ricardo Contreras Jr., from Colliers Batangas shares his thought in Chevron’s project, “Sa apat na taon ko sa Colliers, thrice na akong nakasama dito.Okay itong initiative ng Chevron – na-eengage yung mga tao. Hindi lang dito sa loob ng terminal – pati sa labas (I have been participating in Chevron’s coastal cleanup for three times in my four year-tenure at Colliers. This a good initiative by Chevron because people both from outside and inside of the company get to participate in their cause).”
Chevron initiates activities for social investment all year-round through several programs in the communities where it operates aside from the annual Volunteer Week. It partners with the Philippine Red Cross to deliver supplies and relief aid to victims of natural disasters and donates millions to disadvantaged people to acquire livelihood skills and get access to better education.
In October 2019, there have already been two turtle nestings along the shores of Batangas Terminal. It is expected that with this cleanup, nesting will be more conducive.
