STEPPING UP: Shell Reaches Out to Colleagues, Customers and Communities
June 4, 2020
Posted by Barrett-Jackson
Written by Barbara Toombs
Throughout this entire pandemic, it has been incredible to see the many ways Barrett-Jackson’s valued partners and sponsors have used innovation and dedication to find ways to help others. One shining example comes from our great friends at Shell.
Being a global company, Shell has reached out all over the world to ensure not only its colleagues and customers but also the communities it serves are taken care of – realizing the serious impact COVID-19 has had on people’s health and livelihoods around the world, even as countries begin to ease out of lockdowns.
Naturally, one of the company’s top priorities has been to keep energy supplies flowing, both during lockdowns and as businesses and schools begin to reopen.
Shell employee encourages washing hands in Malaysia.
Up to 70,000 of Shell’s office-based staff have been working from home, offshore and onshore facilities have social distancing and health screening procedures in place, and the company’s global network of retail stations now has enforced social distancing, deeper cleaning and protective screens in place for employees. For customers, forecourts have stayed open, helping to keep crucial services such as ambulances, emergency vehicles and deliveries on the roads. Enhanced cleaning operations, increased stocks of sanitation products and other essential goods are in place at retail sites.
Keeping protected: Shell employee at a Netherlands refinery.
Shell has also been working with business customers to meet demand for essential hand and surface cleaning products. At their manufacturing plants in the Netherlands and in Canada, for example, the company diverted resources to make isopropyl alcohol – the chemical that makes up about half the content of hand-sanitizing liquids – as fast as possible, and is donating that for use in health care facilities all over the world.
But even more impressive are the many, many ways Shell has been helping out during this time of crisis in communities all over the world. More than 15,000 retail sites across more than 30 countries have been providing free food or drink to health care professionals, truck drivers and delivery personnel. The company has been giving free fuel to health care providers and ambulances in many countries.
Shell has been providing many meals to health care workers.
In the U.S., Shell TapUp, a mobile fuel service company, is providing fuel to charities that offer food to vulnerable people, such as Meals on Wheels and food banks in a number of cities. Shell in the U.K. has been making monthly donations to food banks in five communities around Shell’s offices and gas plants. The company provided around 17,000 grocery kits to vulnerable communities and workers around Shell-branded retail sites in 11 cities and six towns in India.
Shell has also joined forces with engineering, 3D printing and injection-molding experts to help produce vital personal protective equipment for the health care sector. In Canada, for example, the company has produced nearly 3,000 reusable face shields using a 3D printer at a Shell chemicals and refining complex.
3D-printed face shields.
These hands-on efforts have been complemented by a number of sizeable monetary donations to pandemic relief efforts around the world, including $3 million to the COVID-19 Resilience Fund set up by Mercy Corps (a global humanitarian and development organization working in more than 40 countries) and $250,000 to Feeding America (a non-profit network of food banks throughout the United States).
That’s just a partial list of the ways Shell and its employees have shown their humanitarian spirit and generous nature throughout this difficult time (you can find even more examples of their global response on the company website).
Barrett-Jackson salutes Shell for its tremendous efforts and are honored to count them among our valued partners.