Over the next five days, employees at Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) will roll up their sleeves to help out their local communities as part of Global Volunteering Week. The initiative was run by TWE for the first time last year and proved a major success, with employees showing their support and making a difference through a number of local charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Every employee is involved with the initiative, which forms a central pillar of TWE’s Corporate Responsibility program, aimed at ensuring the company gives back to the communities in which it operates.

In 2015, TWE employees helped make thousands of meals, changed kilometres of river and coastland, constructed fences, planted trees and collected litter among a number of other volunteering efforts. Even TWE CEO Michael Clarke and Chairman Paul Rayner chipped in, in 2015, with Melbourne-based food charity FareShare and Port Phillip EcoCentre and Friends of Westgate Park respectively.

Corporate Responsibility Manager, Cecelia Burgman had this to say about the program:

“The goodwill generated among employees and local charities through our volunteering efforts last year was tremendous. More importantly we contributed to some vital causes that support people in need. We recognise the important role we can play in giving back to the community and we’re excited to be building on our efforts from last year.”

Organisations partnering with TWE in 2016 for volunteering activities across the company’s regions include: Goulburn Valley Catchment Management Authority, Barooga Community Botanical Gardens, Fairview Lodge Animal Shelter, Bedford Industries Packaging, Port Phillip Eco Centre, Cleland Wildlife Park, Foodbank SA & WA in Australia; Auckland City Mission, Muriwai Environmental Trust and the Twin Streams Project in New Zealand; Redwood Food Bank and River Clean Up in the Americas; Bo Charity Foundation and the Keep Singapore Clean Movement in Asia; and Forty Hall Vineyard and Thames 21 in the UK.

Image: Volunteers help Habitat for Humanity during last year’s Global Volunteering Week