Sustainability report

Supporting low-income families AAK Uruguay Covid-19 caused enormous problems for people in Uruguay during 2020. Those living on daily and irregular incomes, such as street vendors and artists, small restaurants, and the homeless, were suddenly unable to feed themselves and their families. Concerned individuals immediately started to create initiatives and networks that helped to cover these people’s basic needs. One of the first organizations to establish a program was CANASTASUY (“canasta” means “basket” in Spanish). The CANASTASUY program Baskets containing donations and wholesale purchases are distributed to those in need, with enough to feed a family for three days. Food is brought in by volunteer transporters to schools and warehouses where the assembly of each basket is made by hand. The baskets are then delivered by CANASTASUY and the municipal authorities. The entire process is based exclusively on volunteer work coordinated on a day-to-day basis. By raising awareness through social media, the number of dona- tions and volunteers quickly increased and before long, food was reaching over 4,000 families per day. AAK lends a helping hand It was not difficult to decide that this was a project that AAK should be involved in. AAK started by offering a donation of 2,000 baskets, with a special request to have them delivered in the surroundings of Paso de la Arena, a very low-income area where the AAK plant is located. In addition, AAK employees also volunteered in the assembly lines. “It was very satisfying to see dozens of individuals that did not know each other working in teams to efficiently assemble as many canastas as possi- ble”, said María Victoria Laporta Rodriguez, Office Administrator at AAK Uruguay and catalyst behind the CANASTASUY cooperation. ”The urgency of the situation challenged individuals, donors, and institutions to find ways and means to collaborate and strengthen their role in society.” Today, the situation in Uruguay is greatly improved as far as the pandemic is concerned. Slowly but surely, commerce, transportation, and education are coming back to normal, but many people still face difficult challenges and families are going hungry. Our coope­ ration with CANASTASUY continues to work, carrying out a wide variety of essential activities to help those who need it most. AAK Sustainability Report 2020 Better Operations | 49 Contributes to: