The Power of Collective Action
Back to newsEarlier this month, Ardmore Shipping teams in Houston and Cork offered their time to support local communities and environments.
At Ardmore, we believe in the power of collective action to make a difference in the lives of those in need. The focus of our work for various causes extends beyond shipping and those directly connected to the Ardmore team – we aim to support individuals and families who form a part of the communities in which our offices operate.
Fighting hunger in Houston
Founded in 1982, the work of Houston Food Bank is vital to the local community, standing as the largest food bank in size and distribution in the United States. Founded with the goal of fighting the meal and income gap in the region, they serve 1,600 hunger relief charities in 18 southeast Texas counties.
The center operates as a grocery store where participants can self-shop or place orders online for curb-side pickup. The impact that the HFB has made throughout the years is tremendous. When disaster strikes, such as a winter or tropical storm, hurricane, or a nationwide pandemic, the organization responds immediately. To put this impact into perspective, more than 150 million meals were provided through their food pantries, soup kitchens, meal sites and shelters in FY 2022. Demand, sadly, is ever increasing, but so is the Houston Food Bank’s mission to serve.
The Houston Food Bank relies on volunteers who are willing to donate their time to driving operations. In early April, a group of the Ardmore Shipping team in Houston, comprising Holly Cummings, Fernanda Gallardo, and Kayla Davenport, got involved in the processing and delivery of food aid in the area, volunteering at the Houston Food Bank’s Community Resource Center.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the day!” said Kayla Davenport, Ardmore’s Trainee Voyage Manager. It’s two of my favorite things combined into one experience: serving and team-bonding. It’s clear that today’s volunteering brought us closer together as a team – office camaraderie has really increased. In true Ardmore fashion, we quickly developed a strategy and put systems in place to get our volunteer tasks done, and maximize the impact of our time – everyone had their purpose and we worked really well together!”
The team all commented how rewarding it was to meet other volunteers. We are incredibly proud of them for getting involved in such a worthy cause, and hope they inspire others to follow to do the same.
Pollution solutions
The Cork office spent a sunny afternoon on the beautiful Irish coastline during Clean Coasts’ recent corporate volunteering day, where they collected litter on the beaches of Little Island – a civil parish and mainly industrial area to the east of Cork city in Ireland.
Interestingly, the area is no longer an island, since the northern channel separating it from the mainland has filled over. To the west and south is Lough Mahon, part of Cork Harbour, and across a channel to the east is Fota Island.
The Clean Coasts programme works to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastlines, seas, ocean and marine life. The Cork team arrived on site to a welcome address and introduction by representatives of the organization. The team then engaged in a beach and amenities clean up, picking up approximately 120kg of litter.
“Oceans, of course, are integral to Ardmore’s existence and operation. The protection of marine ecosystems and environments is therefore one of our most important responsibilities,” said Mona Holden, Ardmore’s Talent Development Manager. “Today offered us the chance to have a positive impact in Little Island, but it also served as a worrying reminder of the change that’s still needed to ensure that natural areas are protected from human activity. We hope to take part in initiatives like Clean Coast more often in the future.”
Learn more about our people and philosophy, here.