Project Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and your company efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in the areas of community involvement, environmental, or socially responsible practices.
Marina Bay Sands’ CSR programme, Sands for Singapore, supports causes with a focus on youth, education and the arts. This year, as continued to fulfil commitments to long-term community partners, we also utilized our property-wide resources for a series of COVID-19 Relief Efforts, extending additional financial, social and in-kind support to affected communities.
From the onset, we saw that food charities experienced critical needs to feed their beneficiaries as donations declined. In February, through our suppliers and passionate staff, we procured and packed bundles of food essentials for seniors and needy families of food charities. Financial donations were also given to various charities, where many had their pre-pandemic fundraising plans derailed.
Ahead of a government-mandated industry closure, we had 48 hours to amass and donate 15,000 kg of unused produce from our F&B outlets to The Food Bank Singapore, preventing food waste and alleviating hunger. We also supported the government’s quarantine efforts by serving as a designated Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) hotel in May and July. Staff volunteered to distribute meals to Muslim families in need, as well as healthcare workers and their families during the Ramadan fasting month too, supplementing the manpower crunch experienced.
To safeguard the health of low-income families, healthcare and construction communities, we packed care kits with essential items like masks and soaps and donated hygiene supplies. We used recycled and reusable items to ensure environmental sustainability while promoting good sanitation. We also held a Red Cross blood donation drive in September to increase the low national blood supply, especially vital in the pandemic.
We donated care packs of treats and encouraging notes to appreciate healthcare workers too. As the nation united to fight COVID-19, we lit up our iconic Sands SkyPark and ArtScience Museum every night from April – June as a sign of solidarity and hope for all.
Objectives and Goals: What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project in CSR? What were the goals you set to measure your success?
Besides our key focus in youth, education and arts causes, Sands for Singapore has always stood for supporting underserved areas and mobilizing our staff in times of need. Through our special series of COVID-19 Relief Efforts, we sought to respond swiftly to the growing needs that charities and groups on the ground experienced by harnessing our financial, operational and manpower resources.
We aimed to carry out responsible inventory and resource management and engage our strong team of staff safely, while maximizing our outreach by ensuring that help was channeled to those who needed it across various causes and communities. Overall, we were committed to increasing the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable groups affected by the pandemic. This included diverting resources to the severely affected migrant worker community, working alongside government efforts to contribute in this time of need.
The amount of in-kind and financial donations, as well as level of staff participation, were good indicators of success, coupled with the types and number of relevant causes, the differing formats of each unique initiative, as well as the number of beneficiaries reached.
Results: How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve? Please be as specific as possible and share the full impact of your efforts in CSR.
A significant impact indicator is the number of staff hours and staff who participated in CSR activities. In view of COVID-19 safety measures, 2020’s CSR targets were revised to 2,100 volunteer hours through 950 staff, compared to 3,900 staff and 9,500 hours achieved in 2019. As of 30 November 2020, over 1,000 staff had clocked in over 2,800 volunteer hours, half of which directly supported COVID-19 causes. We packed 2,000 food bundles weighing over 6,000kg for food charity beneficiaries such as seniors and needy families, while 15,000kg of food was given to those in nursing homes, family service centers and soup kitchens. The Food Bank Singapore shared that as the pandemic had badly impacted their donations and volunteering, our sponsored food has helped alleviate their beneficiaries’ food insecurity concerns. Another 15,000 food items were collected in a food drive and donated to Food from the Heart.
Around 20 staff took part in a community effort that provided meals to 15,000 beneficiaries across Singapore during Ramadan. We encouraged 300 healthcare workers deployed to COVID-19 care facilities with care packs of hand sanitizers, sweet treats and supportive messages, and assembled 15,000 care kits of surgical masks and other hygiene essentials to low income families and migrant workers in over 16 dormitories. This brings the total number of masks donated to local healthcare, construction, and special needs communities to over 156,000.
Another clear measurement was our CSR Survey results collected during COVID-19 across a representative staff demographic. 95% of staff agreed that we are a socially responsible company, and our staff felt that supporting vulnerable communities was one of our top priorities, validating the direction of our CSR efforts to date, especially with COVID-19. All in all, through various financial, in-kind, and in-person contributions, we have supported over 30 different charities and organizations from January to November 2020 alone.
Leadership: Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility in the travel and tourism industry?
Deep internal alignment and advocacy from senior management has been a key driver of our CSR efforts. Our CSR steering committee – comprising the Senior Vice Presidents of our Legal, Finance, Human Resources, and Resorts Operations Departments – provides strong guidance and support for worthy causes and novel ways of doing good while ensuring that staff safety remains a priority, especially during the pandemic. We are also supported by our 21-member strong CSR working committee, with staff representing 14 different departments across our entire operations. Through this structure, we fostered deeper relationships with and strengthened the operational capabilities of community groups and organizations in the social service sector, while ensuring prudent fiscal and resource management in our organization.
Overall, individual staff and leadership alike in Marina Bay Sands are deeply committed to promoting CSR efforts by expanding the scope and depth of our reach and drawing on our unique resources to impact beneficiaries, promote good corporate citizenship and increase staff engagement, the success of which has paved the way for newer and greater CSR possibilities in the industry.
Entry Title
Marina Bay Sands: COVID-19 Relief Efforts 2020
Division
Corporate Social Responsibility - Corporate Social Responsibility
Category
Corporate Social Responsibility