OHL Volunteers celebrate their tenth birthday

In 2017, OHL is celebrating the foundation, ten years ago, of the OHL Volunteers program, an initiative created through the Group’s Corporate Community Involvement Plan and the Corporate Social Responsibility Strategic Plan in which close to 6,500 employees have participated in a joint effort with 150 entities over these years. Together they have launched more than 150 initiatives, benefitting more than 20,000 people. At the present time, the membership of OHL Volunteers includes more than 400 workers in Spain and Mexico. In addition, the Group organizes corporate volunteering activities for specific campaigns in the U.S., Canada, Chile, Peru and Colombia.

The commitment of OHL Volunteers has made it possible to carry out social initiatives designed to achieve social and labor market integration, provide support to education and assist in caring for the health of groups in a situation, or at risk, of social exclusion. A few of the most outstanding projects include: the construction of the first inclusive park fitted out with playground equipment adapted for people with different abilities in the State of Quintana Roo (Mexico); the campaign called Magia Solidaria para los peques de China, carried out in conjunction with AFAC (Asociación de Familias Adoptantes en Cataluña – Association of Adoptive Families in Catalonia) to collect funds to be used for orphaned children in need of surgery in China; and their participation, since 2015, in the Reinforcement School vocational training volunteer program, organized by Fundación Integra.

Support to the protection of the environment is another of  the main lines of action of OHL Volunteers and has materialized in the organization of activities geared to biodiversity conservation, such as reforestation and bird-banding (Spain); while the furtherance of equal  opportunities has been reflected in sports events such as the Equality Soccer Tournament, which has been shared since 2007 by Group employees and their families together with people with different intellectual abilities from the Special Olympics Spain Foundation; and the Masterchef solidario cooking competition for the promotion of the employability of vulnerable groups, held in Madrid and Barcelona for the first time in 2016.

Also, since 2010, a group of employees has joined in initiatives focused on the need for full social integration, achieved through participation in several stages of the Camino de Santiago (the Road of St. James pilgrimage). The pilgrimage is organized with the Down Madrid Foundation each year in July, with the participation of people with Down syndrome accompanied by members of their families.

The work carried out in the course of these last ten years has brought  a number of awards to OHL Volunteers, such as the Premio Ciudadano (Citizen’s Prize) to the work performed by corporate volunteerism and granted by the Premios Ciudadanos association and the citizens’ debate forum, Foro Debate Ciudadano; the recognition given by DIF Solidaridad (System for the Full Development of the Family) singling out OHL for its projects to the benefit of the community in the Municipality of Solidaridad, in Mexico; and the award presented by the Down Madrid Foundation, in 2015, which highlights the work of OHL’s volunteers in the activities organized by the Foundation.

If you would like to learn more about OHL Volunteers, please visit www.voluntariosohl.com. The group is also present on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. Moreover, OHL Volunteers have a bimonthly newsletter with information on the initiatives carried out, with a blog (voluntariosohl.blogspot.com.es) where the volunteers themselves recount their experiences.

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