CSR Efforts by International Companies Make Difference

What do a school vegetable patch, a metro ride and senior mobility in three different countries have to do with CSR? A lot if you're a CSR representative from East-West Seed Company Inc., Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) or Mr. Goodcents Foundation for Senior Mobility. It turns out each of these companies embraces CSR projects that are making a difference in the life of different sectors of global communities.

Take East-West Seed Company, for example. This organization is a a Dutch-Filipino company whose products are hybrid tropical seeds that they sell locally. No only do they partner directly with public elementary schools, parent-teacher organizations, the mayor's office and the Department of Agriculture, to name a few, they have established what appears to be a very successful school-based veggie garden at the Kaliwanagan Elementary School in San Jose City, Philippines. This good work is a CSR project, where kids, with assistance form teachers and parents, are taught how to grow vegetables such as eggplant, Chinese cabbage, sweet and hot peppers and bottle gourds. It's quite a community experiment--kids garden daily, teachers come in and water on the weekends, parents contribute soil enriched with their livestock's poop and not a single veggie has been lifted from the fence-less garden. In class, the kids learn about organic farming, prepping the land, planting, fertilizing, crop, land and water management, harvesting and nutrition. Kids and teachers sell the kids' produce during harvest season right in front of the school, and cooking contests and recipe demos bring in additional crowds. The community as a whole benefits from organic, fresh veggies that are cheap, and the money raised from the sale of the crops is used to buy educational supplies for the kids.

In New Delhi, India, about 100 kids ages 5-14 who are cancer patients and undergoing treatment at NGO Cankids get to visit the Metro Museum at Patel Chowk Metro station, in addition to riding on the Dehli Metro for the sheer joy. They also get to check out both the elevated and underground portions of the metro starting at Patel Chow to the Inderlok Metro station by way of the Kashmere Gate station. This is all part of the CSR initiatives from DMRC, who actively set up such visits for community populations who require extra care and attention. In partnership with other NGOs such as the Masoom Duniya based in Dwarka, that minds mentally-challenged kiddos; Saksham Daksh in Noida, that works with blind kids; and NGO Samarthyam, which is involved with folks with varying abilities, DMRC has provided such rides. In fact, DMRC has even built a homeless shelter for street kids that is close to Tis Hazari. It's run by an organization called the Salaam Balak Trust.

Back in the States, corporate social responsibility programs are helping the elderly through the Mr. Goodcents Foundation for Senior Mobility. Since its inception in 2001, this organization has been collaborating with neighborhoods to offer sustainable transportation and mobility options tailored to senior citizens with the goals of improving their transportation access that are community-appropriate and providing greater awareness on these issues to other populations. A study conducted by Cone, Inc., revealed that nearly 90% of folks in the US say it's imperative that businesses, non-profit organizations and governments partner with each other to provide solutions to social and environmental challenges.

Based on these examples, at least, it's apparent that this notion of CSR programs aimed at solving community issues is a delightful international affliction.