The CMA CGM Foundation continues its involvement with the charity initiated in 2020 during the Covid crisis. In response to the continuously rising inflation, the CMA CGM Foundation announced its decision to help the cause by entering into not one but two partnerships based on human, logistical and financial support. The support is donated to leading charities combating food insecurity in France and the French overseas departments and territories.
CMA CGM’s Foundation has partnered with Les Restos du Cœur in France and the French Food Banks Federation in French overseas territories to combat the rising 10% of the French population using food aid. Tanya Saadé Zeenny, Chair of the CMA CGM Foundation, commented on the support by saying it was essential, “We cannot remain indifferent to the rise in food insecurity. By mobilizing the Foundation’s resources, the Group’s logistics expertise, and the engagement of our staff members, we are taking concrete action together to help the most vulnerable.”
The collaboration with Les Restos du Cœur allows for one-million meals to be donated in the three historic regions for the CMA CGM Group, the Bouches-du-Rhône, Le Havre and Dunkirk. Tied to CMA CGM donating meals, the company is also offering its staff’s expertise in advising the charity’s management teams on optimizing their logistics chain and managing the warehouses where the charity’s volunteers work.
As part of the CMA CGM Foundation’s “Containers of Hope” program, the Foundation is planning on additionally providing seventeen refrigerated containers for transporting frozen produce to overseas regions and donating five containers for storing fresh produce, free of charge. The additional storage increases the food banks’ capacity, vastly widening the food banks’ capacity. The partnership with the French Food Banks Federation in France’s overseas territories also enables the distribution of 1 million meals, mainly in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and La Réunion.
Alongside the new partnerships comes an even more significant impact by permitting its French employees to grow personally. As part of CMA CGM Group’s skill sponsorship program, CGM is having its staff in France commit five days a year of their working time to support local charities. By doing so, the staff will most likely get humbled working alongside volunteers from both charities while participating in primary annual collection drives, product sorting, prepping parcels, and distributing meals.
