Project of the Month

Matchmaking becomes a growing 'business' in Amersfoort
An article about a 'buddy project' in his local newspaper instantly caught Johan van der Helm's eye. Johan is Safety Manager at Functional Chemicals in Amersfoort and already for some time he was thinking about a suitable project to make a contribution to society. The initiative was exactly what he had been looking for.

Quality of life preserved through coastal clean-up
From a full pipeline of ideas to serve society in their community, our colleagues from Decorative Paints in Puerto Rico started their community involvement by cleaning up trash and debris from a 3.2 mile area along the coast. As part of their Month of Caring outreach, they teamed up with Scuba Dogs Society, an environmentally conscious diving school that engages companies from across the island in a coastal clean-up and conservation project.

Improving environmental awareness among children
Environmental awareness is one of the important themes in China. And as with many issues, it is deemed most efficient to teach young children the importance of handling waste. Our colleagues from Automotive & Aerospace Coatings in Shanghai have chosen ‘Garbage Classification’ in schools as their key activity in their community and drew up a plan to involve 6 primary schools, 3 kindergartens and 1 vocational school. Support from the Community Program was granted and in the summer of 2011 a start was made at the Yew Chung International School of Shanghai.

Learning about animals and science at Green Chimneys
The Annual Putnam County 4-H (four-leaved clover) Fair in Carmel, NY definitely is a highlight for the children of the Green Chimneys rehabilitation center. Apart from showing what they have learned about cattle, swine, sheep, llamas and goats, they can also submit their science projects, developed together with the researchers from Surface Chemistry in Brewster.

Salt makes science lessons crystal clear
The 250 pupils of the Branding Elementary School in Brielle (near Rotterdam) are lucky to have one or more parents working at Industrial Chemicals in Rotterdam. Salt, being one of the main ingredients for the Membrane Electrolysis plant, has proven to be a subject that is very suitable to acquaint children with science and technology and to explain its vital role in society. Inspired by their colleagues in Delfzijl, who had developed a curriculum together with Groningen University a few years ago, two of our Rotterdam colleagues decided to start giving lessons on the school in Brielle and at the same time organize a genuine salt crystals competition.

Creating a sense of belonging for abandoned disabled children
One of the neighbors of the Pulp & Paper Chemicals (Eka) operations at the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Boai School & Rehabilitation Clinic, is near to the hearts of our colleagues. The Boai School is a non-state, non-profit, registered charity organization set up in 1998.  It takes care of vulnerable children who have been segregated from social life because of their disability. A group of 20 disabled children, who have been abandoned by their parents, permanently live at the school premises. Apart from receiving pre-school and junior high school education, they are also given the required treatment for their disabilities.

Reaching out to elderly at the Emanuele Home
It was with great apprehension that the 20 mentally and physically disabled elderly living at the Emanuele Home in Kyungju ‘welcomed’ the 30 AkzoNobel volunteers from Functional Chemicals when they wanted to lend them a helping hand.

Backyard Preserve restored into outdoor oasis
After a wet and gloomy spring, our colleagues from Decorative Paints in Strongsville, Ohio, were eager to get outside and volunteer for an outdoor community service project. The choice that had to be made was not very difficult as the Strongsville Backyard Preserve was in desperate need of a little tender love and care.

Sports as a means for social integration
When Production shift supervisor Oliver Tornack of Industrial Chemicals in Bitterfeld had a discussion with his colleagues about a news item they had heard on the radio regarding national social problems, they decided to make a serious contribution. The problems touched on were a.o. a reduction of the population, integration problems with migrants and participation of deprived groups in societal activities.

Good teamwork creates thriving gardens for disabled people
Two days of active gardening and landscaping by 40 volunteering employees of Decorative Paints in Slough led to the creation of two beautiful gardens for disabled people in Reading and London. The UK finance team, mainly based in Slough, was looking for local charities in the area and became involved with Thrive, a charity based in Reading with a second base in Battersea (London) which works with disabled people of all ages, including those recovering after a stroke or living with heart disease and people recovering after an accident.

Enlightening serious treatment for sick children
A hospital normally is a place for a short stay. This is not the case for many children who stay in the local hospital in Izmir, Turkey. They often suffer from chronic illnesses like diabetes, liver failure, cancer, etc.  and they have to undergo serious treatment. For the hospital staff it is not always easy to explain to the children what is going to happen and why pain is involved when giving injections etc.  The Dr.Behçet Uz Hospital Foundation has therefore developed a method using dolls, called the Yaren Babies. These ‘babies’ are made from stuffed cotton and have no faces. The children residing in a hospital are given the dolls and paint their faces and bodies, creating their own companions. When using the dolls, the hospital staff can explain the treatment in such a way that the children understand much better why pain is involved.

Brightening up the lives of disabled children
Our colleagues from Wood Finishes & Adhesives in Tianjin have selected the Jian Hua Foundation as a partner for some of the projects they want to carry out with support from the Community Program. Jian Hua means ‘Building China’ and the organization is active on many fields, like education, hygiene and sanitation, medical support, developing agricultural projects using the professional skills and experience of experts.

Community Service Award for continued support in Grundy County  
What started with a one day activity, purchasing and unloading an impressive amount of food for the We Care organization in Grundy County, has led to continued support by our volunteering colleagues from Surface Chemistry in Morris, Illinois. The involvement was recognized by the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce and Industry by awarding the site with the ‘Community Service Award’ in 2011.

Helping poor youngsters ‘on the right track’
By helping to establish educational quarters for the João Paulo II home, our colleagues from Pulp & Paper Chemicals (Eka) in Bahia, Brazil were certainly ’on the right track’. This is also the title of a corporate program, directed at preventing the exploitation of poor children between 7 and 17 years old who perform work on the roads, which was co-signed by the AkzoNobel operation in Bahia.

Connecting with the homeless
Sad as it is, but it can happen to anybody: to lose ones roof over one’s head and become homeless. Due to the economic downturn, resulting in higher than average unemployment, the homeless population has increased substantially in the past few years in many parts of the world.  Although most people only hear or read about the statistics and rarely, if ever, put a face to the dilemma, this is not the case for our US colleagues at Powder Coatings in Nashville, where the site/office is located in an area of the city where homelessness is prevalent. As Kathy Wilson puts it: ‘We can’t come to work each day, go out to lunch, or drive home without coming face to face with individuals living on the streets and facing the struggles in life that homelessness brings.’

A dream come true for Vaudreuil-Soulanges Palliative Care Residence
It took five years of planning and a fundraising campaign to realize a most important project in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges and surrounding areas: the services of a Palliative Care Residence. Numerous volunteers, their partners, donors and the full support and enthusiasm of the population have been involved to make this dream become a reality. A dream that could be realized, not in the least thanks to the help of our colleagues from Marine & Protective Coatings in Dorval. When they heard about the project, they joined hands with their colleagues from Decorative Paints in the Montreal area and helped apply the final coat of paint to the walls and of the hallways. With support from the Community Program 260 gallons of paint was supplied free of charge for the residence.

An unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival for orphans and volunteers
“To live one’s life, one needs a heart … to what end, do you know? To cast into the wind, to cast into the wind.” This phrase from the famous Vietnamese song ‘Cast into the wind’ inspired our colleagues from Wood Finishes & Adhesives in Amata, Bien Hoa to reach out and make the Mid-Autumn Festival for the orphans of An Lac Orphanage a real special one this year.

Persistence leads to the creation of a playground near Mariager
The hardest winter in 14 years delayed the plans of our colleagues from Industrial Chemicals in Mariager, Denmark to help the children of the nearby villages by creating a new playground. But the delay of 5-6 months did not discourage the small team of enthusiastic employees and two plant managers to realize their idea in the spring.

A Games Library to brighten up the lives of poor children
When Mercedes Ortega from Decorative Paints in Colón, Montevideo heard from the Scout Movement of Uruguay about the poor circumstances of the ’Lezica Home’, she decided to help out and asked support from the Community Program and ‘recruited’ more colleagues to brighten up the lives of the children.

Waste recycling: an opportunity for a better future
Waste can be thrown away by some, at the same time creating an opportunity for work for others as well as improving the environmental conditions in the community. Our colleagues from Surface Chemistry and Functional Chemicals in Itupeva, Brazil had heard about Itupeva’s Waste Recycling Cooperative (IWRC), a local organization set up to provide employment for former street sweepers and other jobless people. The majority of these people lack formal training and education, reducing their chances for employment in the labor market. The working conditions at IWRC were not safe and the required awareness about health and safety were inadequate causing many people to quit. Health, safety and environment being traditionally high on the agenda of AkzoNobel, our skilled and experienced colleagues decided to help.

A spectacular circus gala in Bensheim
A spectacular circus gala entitled ‘Henry’s Childrens circus Hallöchen’ was the end result of many months of intensive practice by about 160 children from the Bensheim region as well as many volunteers. One of the employees from Powder Coatings in Bensheim was closely involved by sewing the colorful costumes and other kinds of preparatory activities. With support from the Community Program the materials for the costumes, the arena and other equipment could be purchased.

Hard work makes a wish for a jungle gym come true
The pupils of the Erich-Kästner Primary School in Limburg, near Frankfurt were very proud to have collected a large amount of money by participating in a donation run. The proceeds were meant to build a climbing garden at their school’s playground and with additional funding from the city of Limburg the necessary equipment could be bought. However, an important part was lacking: the financing of the assembly and installation by the manufacturer.

A meditation garden to help fight addiction
Employees from Wood Finishes & Adhesives at the Roanoke, Virginia site volunteered on Saturday, May 22 at Bethany Hall, a shelter for women suffering from the disease of addiction. Bethany Hall is a private, non-profit agency providing long-term residential substance abuse treatment for women. For almost 40 years, Bethany Hall has helped save and rebuild the lives of women suffering from the disease of addiction. In turn, these women are able to reestablish positive relationships with those who support their recovery.

A lucky choice for poor children in Mexico
The Katalina Kasper Educational Center in Coatzocoalcos was lucky to have been chosen by our colleagues from Marine & Protective Coatings in Mexico to support them with funds from the Community Program. When the AkzoNobel employees visited the school, which is located 10 km from the city in a very hot coast zone with temperatures between 28°C and 38°C, they detected a lot of needs.

A normal life for mentally restrained youngsters
What seemed almost impossible in the first place has turned into a very successful project. Some 25 volunteers from Car Refinishes and Decorative Paints in Sassenheim spent more than 200 hours in their own free time to build housing for animals at Ferm Rozemarijn, a new center where young mentally restrained people are offered the possibility to live on their own and to function properly in society.

Fighting the risks of alcohol addiction
Alcohol can brighten up our lives at times, but it can also have a devastating effect and ruin many people’s lives. In Germany (and of course in other countries as well) it is socially acceptable to have a drink (or two).

A touch of home in a safe haven
It is hard to imagine, but there are still many women and children that suffer from domestic violence. Near the Surface Chemistry site in Morris, Illinois, a safe haven for these victims was created, called The Guardian Angels Home.

Improved health conditions through REACH
For the fifth consecutive time a health clinic was conducted in the fall at Merebank in Durban under a marquee tent erected on the same premises as the Community Hall.

A small seed for the future of mentally and physically disabled children
Our colleagues from Polymer Chemicals in Tianjin have come to the aid of children growing up in difficult and adverse circumstances, who are often discarded by society.

Waste land transformed into ' AkzoNobel Green Garden'
Employees from AkzoNobel Powder Coatings carried out a total clean-up of local wasteland, and the planting of trees to create an environmentally green area.

New ponies reduce waiting time for disabled to ride
AkzoNobel volunteers from Marine & Protective Coatings in Yeronga, Australia, spend their Saturdays at the McIntyre Centre Pony Riding for Disabled Association.

Creating a sustainable future for fishermen families in Marunda
AkzoNobel colleagues from Car Refinishes in Jakarta have helped to improve the living conditions of a local fishing community at Marunda Beach.