Fuelling Kindness
Kindness from the ground up
What is Fuelling Kindness?
Fuelling Kindness began as a grassroots initiative led by our employees to give back to the communities where we live and work.
Shell believes that kindness is within us all. Small acts can have big impacts on our health, relationships and society. What was started by a group of employees who wanted to give back to their community is now spreading to include Shell customers, partners, and Canadians from all walks of life.
Today, it has transformed our community programs, which include the United Way and our employee volunteer programs. Spreading kindness has become part of who we are at Shell and volunteering is a core part of what we do.
How is Shell Fuelling Kindness?
Shell employees, retirees, retailers and associates are fuelling kindness by encouraging Canadians to pay it forward to a friend, family member or stranger. Small acts of kindness can make a big difference.
Fuelling Kindness is something our Shell community can get involved in and they are encouraged to engage in acts of kindness of any size. It is as simple as buying coffee and doughnuts for workers at a non-profit organization or writing inspirational messages on the sidewalk. Or, it can be an employee’s weekly volunteer activity at a local charity. The hope is our Shell communities give back and make a meaningful difference in the lives of Canadians.
Studies show that kindness can make people healthier and happier – so let’s work together to make a happier and healthier Canada.
Fuelling Kindness and COVID-19
Keeping our employees, customers and local communities healthy and safe is core to how we work at Shell. As COVID-19 continues to impact communities across Canada, Shell continues to look at various ways to support organizations in communities near our operations while maintaining physical distancing.
Actively seeking ways to engage and support Canadians, Shell worked with employees, not-for-profit organizations and government to find ways to provide immediate needs for communities through this challenging time.
As part of our #FuellingKindness program, Shell made a $250,000 donation to United Way of Calgary and its Community Response Fund to help those agencies meet the needs of the most vulnerable. As more Untied Way organizations across Canada responded to community needs, we provided $100,000 to the Alberta Capital United Way and $50,000 to United Way of Sarnia-Lambton in Ontario.
In response to the overwhelming demand on food banks across Canada, Shell implemented the #FuellingKindness through Feeding Communities campaign, matching all contributions from employee and retirees made to various food banks across Canada . Together with this corporate match, Shell employees and retirees donated $253,103 across 50 various food banks across Canada.
Fuelling Kindness on Giving Tuesday – the global day of giving
Shell celebrates the 8th annual Giving Tuesday by sharing with you a heart-warming story of how one person’s idea grew way bigger than expected.
Giving Tuesday has become a global movement for giving and volunteering.
Fuelling Kindness Video 2020
Title: Shell Canada Fuelling Kindness 2020
Duration: 03:30
Description
A heartwarming story from our Scotford Manufacturing site in Canada where team members felt passionate about finding ways to support healthcare workers during the pandemic. Using a 3D printer, the team produced face shields to give to frontline workers who needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Shell Canada Fuelling Kindness 2020 - Transcript
[Soft instrumental melody begins]
[Voiceover]
Mark: “When you're hit by the unknown. Sometimes you're not sure how you're going to help, but this small idea got way bigger than I thought it would.”
[Animated video plays while voiceover]
Wording “sometimes you are not sure how you are going to help” appears while man wearing coverall and hard hat walks across screen carrying a box.
[Radio sounds begins]
[Zoom to video footage of a man sitting in his vehicle and listening to radio regarding Covid-19 pandemic]
Radio announcer: “As this pandemic grows, frontline health workers face shortages of personal protective equipment.”
[Soft instrumental melody resumes]
[Video footage continues of a man sitting in his vehicle]
Mark: “When COVID first started hitting Canada, the thing that really bothered me was the notion of Canadians -- especially frontline workers -- just didn't have enough PPE you know, personal protective equipment.”
[Cut to video footage of men at a Refinery working on equipment and upbeat music begins along with voiceover]
Mark: “Where I work, I couldn't imagine not having PPE”.
[Cut to video footage of male co-workers at site standing in PPE, zoom to men looking at shield designs on the computer while voiceover]
Mark: “We heard about other companies retooling to manufacture personal protective equipment, and it made us wonder what could we do to help.”
[Voiceover with video footage of frontline workers actively working in a hospital pushing a stretcher]
Radio announcer: “Frontline workers say they're worried”.
[Cuts to video footage of people looking at drafts of face shields designs voiceover begins zooms to video of Mark having a discussion with co-worker and Manager]
Mark: “The more I watched the news, the more I realized that the timing was urgent. We had a great idea to make face shields, but we didn't know if our manager would go for it. Initially I pitched building about 300. He said, how about 2000? That was a lot of pressure”.
[Cuts to video footage of Downtown city scape]
[Sound of Shell Music begins]
[Zooms to video footage of man talking]
David:” We had the feeling that we were under prepared for what the reality of this pandemic was going to create for us”.
[Cuts to video footage of day to day operations at homeless shelter including busy workers at the George Spady Society]
David: “We're serving a vulnerable population here in Edmonton, running a detox and stabilisation unit. PPE was not available. There was a bit of desperation setting in. I personally was feeling a little bit nervous, understanding that we could be in trouble”.
[Zoom back to video footage of the Refinery with voiceover and zooms to female removing boxes from her car]
Tracy: “I'm used to ordering pump parts, motors, gaskets, pipe. And I got a call from Mark with a very strange list of materials. It was fun. I jumped right in.”
[Cuts to video footage of Refinery site volunteers gathering supplies and assembling face shields. A box is being packed and carried across the screen]
Mark: The feeling was overwhelming to have over a hundred people, volunteer to help make these face shields from all walks of life in our plant. We started to hear that Quebec was getting hit really hard with COVID. Our first shipment went to that province. That was an awesome moment. It felt fantastic”.
[Cuts to video footage of montage of various face shield recipients and fabrication of face shield and slide back to volunteers assembling face shields]
Mark: “We started getting more requests from provinces across Canada. They were saying, we'll take as many as you can make. Initially, we talked about making 2,000”.
[Video footage of female sitting in her car talking and starts driving to local sewing and craft store]
Tracy: “By the time the end of that 2000 came, it had moved up to 3000. It was incredibly hard to find material to complete those 3000”.
Mark: “Raw materials were becoming hard to find. We were having to look in really odd places to locate them, but we knew we just had to keep going”.
[zoom back to video footage of George Spady Society showing workers opening boxes and pulling out face shields]
David: “So to tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting the delivery of shields. We opened it up and it was like face shields. And a lot of them.
[Cut to video footage of David speaking as well as workers joyously opening boxes and putting on face shields showing happiness and a sense of relief and safety]
David: “It was really heartwarming to know that people were going above and beyond. It's not even their job, but they knew that people were desperate for them. Our staff do amazing work here and when they're fully supported and they feel safe, their capacity to give is enormous.
[Cut to video footage of workers wearing shields and zoom back to the Refinery assembling shields]
Mark: “Canadians look out for one another pure and simple. I never felt more proud to see a team like that come together. Let's just keep taking care of each other”.
[Sound of Shell Music Ends]
[Animated text fades onto the screen]
Choose kindness and watch it grow.
#FuellingKindness
[Shell Logo Emerges Against White Background]
Share your stories
Tell us about your latest random act of kindness by sharing on
Twitter @Shell_Canada and Facebook @Shell using #FuellingKindness
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