Delivering love and hope through education in rural areas, Sodexo recognized with three major awards at Sixth CSR China Education

Shanghai, November 17, 2022 - Sodexo, the world leader in Quality of Life Services, has won a number of important awards. The company won “CSR Top 100 Rank” at the Sixth CSR China Education Award.

A number of public welfare projects of the company’s non-profit organization Stop Hunger Foundation received the “China SDG Projects of the Year” award. In addition, the said projects won “Public Recognition Special Award” in a public voting. They were also selected for inclusion in Outstanding Cases of 2022 6th CSR China Education Award. 

Initiated in 2014 by several industry organizations including CSR China Education Alliance, Corporate Citizen Committee of China Association of Social Workers, and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, CSR China Education Award was aimed at encouraging and commending outstanding CSR projects that support development of education in China. This year's Award saw the participation of 192 well-known Chinese and foreign enterprises, with 93 of them being included in Top100 Rank. The Hope Kitchen and Garden and Love Food Pack initiatives of Sodexo’s Stop Hunger Foundation have shown how the company leveraged on its corporate strengths when fulfilling its corporate social responsibility. As such they were recognized by the Organizing Committee as well as members of the public.

Improving students’ nutrition to help realize revitalization of rural villages

2022 is the second year of implementation of rural revitalization strategy in China. The most important tasks involved in attainment of modern socialist country remain in the rural villages, with giving priority to developing educational work and improving the conditions for compulsory education being of utmost importance in the strategy.  A key aspect of this is improvement of nutrition of students in rural villages. Helping students to grow in a healthy manner, preventing intergenerational transmission of poverty and fostering fair development of education all hold important practical implications and far-reaching influence for China’s effort in becoming a nation with powerful human resources.

Sodexo has actively supported the nation’s strategy by helping to meet nutritional and health needs of youths in rural villages and improving the hygiene as well as meals capacity of rural school canteens, culminating in the establishment of Sodexo Hope Kitchen project in 2015. The first Sodexo Hope Kitchen was built in Tahuangqi Primary School in Humaying Village, Fengning County in Hebei Province. The company supplied storage, processing, cooking and sanitation equipment and helped built a modernized kitchen that was safe, hygienic, efficient and energy-saving for the rural school. Upon its completion the school was able to provide punctually, hot meals once a day to students. Hot water was also available to them. Hitherto Sodexo has donated and established 8 Hope Gardens in China. The company has also benefited more than 60 schools under the aegis of Hope Kitchen Project through its health and nutrition program, training 140 cooks and management workers, as well as over 30,000 students in rural primary schools.

Delivering love at “The Last Mile”

In June this year Sodexo partnered with Oasis Food Bank on a charitable event involving donation of gift packs in Shanghai. Volunteers from Sodexo were recruited through Stop Hunger Foundation to deliver gift packs consisting of food and daily necessities to 300 needy families in Shanghai - they were nominated by 15 non-profit organizations - in a show of love and care for such families during the COVID pandemic.

Said Liu Xiaoyan, Head of Corporate Responsibility for Sodexo Greater China: “Sodexo has always aspired to build a better future in fulfillment of our responsibility as a corporate citizen. Nevertheless, eradication of hunger and malnutrition is a long and protracted process, so going forward we will work with more public welfare organization in order to help those in need in a more diversified manner.”