The numbers have been logged: 716 employees strode and sweated to raise awareness of prevalent diseases, $165,000 was donated to foundations that support people with those diseases, and 10,000 food items have been supplied to children in need of nutritional support.
In 2012, Petrotrin’s Corporate Communications department created a simple framework for tracking employee engagement. It was an acknowledgement that longstanding volunteer projects in their neighbouring “fence-line communities” weren’t quite as cohesive as they’d have liked, and it soon became a priority to assemble a disparate array of initiatives into an organised volunteerism agenda that focused on Education, Sport and Culture, and Community Empowerment.
The new agenda meant promoting events that could turn out staff in large numbers — an annual walkathon to promote disease awareness, a Christmas toy drive, a July/August Vacation food drive — and challenging themselves to match or surpass attendance and fundraising benchmarks.
The 2017 walkathon, for example, turned out 100 staff members, which didn’t quite equal the high of the first walkathon in 2013, but also contributed $40,000 to the violence and suicide hotline, Lifeline, which was more than they’d ever raised in the event’s five year history.
The figures are a good gauge of employee engagement, but they don’t show the full picture of an ongoing commitment to ratcheting up volunteerism across the government-owned oil and gas company. Statistics (always dry and impassive) hardly convey the camaraderie and inter-departmental bonding that is especially important for a large, sprawling company with a diverse staff.
At Christmas, you’ll find Petrotrin employees handing out gifts and overstuffed hampers to residents of the Train Line community at the Marabella Family Crisis Centre. At the same time, some will be slapping cards with senior citizens, or revving it up with the parang side.
The Marabella Family Crisis Centre (MFCC) is a non-profit social change agency that has been involved in the process of transformation within the Marabella community and environs. MFCC chief executive Terrence Boissiere says his NGO’s partnership with Petrotrin stretches back two decades, and began with the company donating containers for its Meals on Wheels feeding programme. Since then, MFCC has come to rely on its corporate neighbour for an office administration subvention, uniforms for budding football players from at- risk communities like the Train Line, and majority funding for the “Blue Ribbon Event” — the big Christmas bash. “Even at short notice, we could go to them for any kind of emergency or eventuality,” says Boissiere.
As Petrotrin tries to develop a cadre of competent tradespeople, its craft apprentices have also been mandated to get involved in the communities close to company facilities. In 2015, equipped with rotary saws and paint brushes and looking smart in “Proud to be a Petrotrin volunteer” t-shirts, 72 trainees marched into the Ferndean’s Place Children’s Home in Point Fortin.
By the time the kids returned from their mandatory Fun Day out, the home for abused and abandoned children had been transformed with fresh paint and newly installed cupboards and chests of drawers. The home helps children of all ages in every respect. Children from infant stage to 18 years stay at this home, many of whom come from dire circumstances. Trauma and neglect have resulted in many of the children having severe learning disabilities that require special care. That care relies heavily on social investment from companies like Petrotrin. “I’m one of those who is very happy to be contributing,”said trainee David Khan through a haze of sawdust. “It’s actually a nice feeling to see that you could do this much from so little.”
During the long school holiday, when the national school feeding program is on hiatus, Petrotrin employees have made a habit of assemblinghampersfordistributiontofamilies who need support. Eighty-five children from 15 schools have benefited for the past three years, and the plan is to double that number. It’s the kind of project that engages staff (60 employees from seven departments in 2016) as well as the extended Petrotrin community of spouses and friends.
“Petrotrin really has a culture of giving,” says Sarah Hamel-Smith of the Corporate Communications Department. Even though resources are stretched due to the depressed oil price, the company maintains support where it can.
And with a little ingenuity, a bit of perspiration and the will to make a difference, it’ll keep doing just that.
By the numbers
For the 2016 Annual Employee Christmas Toy Drive, 117 volunteers took part and 553 toys were donated.
That year, 127 walkers participated in the Walkathon for Heart Disease Awareness, which raised $38,600 for the Trinidad and Tobago Heart Foundation.