United Way 2021 Campaigns: Copper, Creativity and COVID Recovery
Enbridge campaigns raise more than US$4.1 million (C$5.4 million) for chapters across North America
There was gold in them thar fields.
Well, technically not gold. Copper, actually. Miles and miles of it.
Copper, and other materials, making up medium-voltage cable that otherwise might have ended up in landfills following Enbridge’s Line 62 pipeline reversal in northeast Illinois earlier this year.
Instead, Enbridge crews salvaged the cable, had it recycled, and presented the United Way of Livingston County, IL, with a check for $25,626—the largest single donation in that chapter’s history.
“I’ve had people reach out to me from other companies asking how we were able to accomplish this. I think we’ve started a snowball effect, which is amazing,” notes Julie Myers, an employee at Enbridge’s Flanagan Terminal near Pontiac, IL, who was instrumental in coordinating the cable recycling project.
“I have a strong desire to help others, and I’m proud to work for a company that shares my values,” she adds.
It’s just one of many stories of creativity and resourcefulness that marked United Way campaigns across the Enbridge footprint in 2021—as countless North American communities continued their recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given the extraordinary circumstances created by the pandemic for the second straight year, Enbridge offered a one-time corporate matching rate of 1.5 for employee donations made in 2021 to local United Way chapters through Enbridge’s Fueling Futures corporate citizenship program, to a company-wide cap of C$1 million.
Nearly 2,200 Enbridge employees and contractors used Fueling Futures in 2021 to support the United Way.
And between employee and contractor donations, retiree giving, special events, regional donations, Enbridge’s corporate match and that one-time boost, Enbridge’s United Way campaigns totaled more than US$4.1 million (more than C$5.4 million) in support of about 135 organizations across North America.
“This year’s campaign, as always, was led by Enbridge employees—demonstrating, once again, our commitment to others by volunteering time in addition to raising dollars,” says Pete Sheffield, Enbridge’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Every year, we are reminded through the United Way campaign just how deeply committed our Enbridge team members are to helping their neighbors and communities.”
