Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI), marketer of Caltex brand of fuels and lubricants, held its second blended annual Chevron Volunteer Week with both virtual and real-world activities. For this year’s series of activities, Chevron provided sustainable aid to local communities while promoting a more sustainable lifestyle to the employee-volunteers through online workshops.

“During these trying times, it’s important for us to keep the essence of volunteerism alive. I’m glad that we are able to continue our Volunteer Week activities even virtually where Chevron employees are able to do their part in protecting the environment, supporting local farmers and businesses while helping as much as we can those who are badly in need,” said Billy Liu, CPI Country Chairman and General Manager.

Supporting local farmers

Volunteer Week 2021 started with Project Gulay wherein Chevron sourced vegetables from farmers in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija through partner St. Isidore the FARMer Learning Center Inc., a training center for the development of agriculture. The vegetables were donated to 80 families in Brgy. Pagibig sa Nayon in Quezon City together with three-days-worth of food supplies.

Aside from the donation, Chevron volunteers attended a virtual cooking workshop hosted by Chef Joy Ecobar where they learned how to prepare organic and healthy dishes. Project Gulay’s goal was to raise awareness on benefit of healthy eating while supporting and appreciating local farmers in the country.

Promoting sustainable lifestyle by composting

The second activity held was Project Bokashi Compost, facilitated by Karen Pascua, a certified Bokashi Compost Mentor and Edible Urban Gardener. Volunteers were taught the importance of food waste diversion and composting using Bokashi Technology.

Chevron also donated Bokashi Compost kits and grocery packs to 56 families in Tondo, Manila through St. John Bosco Parish and Bureau of Plant Industry’s Gulayan ni Juan, a community effort that helps families within Tondo to sustain their livelihood by selling local produce.

Protecting marine life

A staple activity in Chevron Volunteer Week is the annual Batangas Coastal clean-up, held every September in time for the International Coastal Clean-up month. A total of 64 volunteers cleaned up the two-kilometer coastline in San Pascual, which straddles the Chevron Batangas Terminal.

Chevron volunteers removed debris and trash that could prevent sea turtles from laying their eggs on the beach. About 210 bags of non-biodegradable trash and 100 bags of biodegradable waste with a total gross weight of 755 pounds (.3422 metric tons) were collected by the volunteers.

Living a life that sparks joy

The last activity for this year’s Volunteer Week is Project Joy led by a certified KonMari consultant, Renalyn Tan Castillejos. Chevron volunteers learned the Konmari method wherein they had to let go of the things that don’t spark joy anymore but can still be beneficial to those who are in need.

The activity was in partnership with Project Pearls, a non-stock, nonprofit and non-partisan organization whose mission is to help the poorest children and families have a better life through education, literacy, nutrition, healthcare, empowerment and livelihood. All decluttered stuff from the volunteers were donated to the beneficiaries in Brgy. Malainen Bago, Naic Cavite, a relocation site for the poor families of Tondo, Manila.

Chevron has been conducting Volunteer Week (VW) every year since 2009. It’s a week-long event where employees have the opportunity to volunteer their time to activities that help communities in need. VW supports programs that promote livelihood, safety, health, education and the environment. This is the second time in as many years that VW was held in a blended format to keep both employees and beneficiaries safe during the pandemic.