Pandemic activated aid from Ecuadorian companies

From donating products from their own lines to strategic alliances to add food and biosafety items, the companies deployed.

Without a doubt, in the face of the health emergency, the reaction of the Business It was very agile, according to Evangelina Gómez Durañona, executive director of Ceres, Social Responsibility & Sustainability Ecuador, “even faster than the State in many cases,” she comments.

According to information collected by this entity, 91% of Ceres member companies have developed some contribution, project or initiative during the pandemic.

Actions taken by companies

The first business task was to protect the health of its collaborators, clients and value chain. Then they developed donations of food and hygiene kits, creation of funds (trusts) for solidarity support, among others, lists Evangelina Gómez.

Luis Reyes Portocarrero, general manager of Tía, explains that the chain was part of the food assistance program Unidos Alimentamos Más Personas, which worked together with the Diakonia Food Bank and had the support of several public and private companies and hundreds of people. supportive.

“We began immediately channeling the necessary help, with our own resources, in campaigns with our collaborators, who also joined this noble cause,” says Luis Reyes.

Other donations provided by the private company were biosafety equipment and products for the health system and local governments, tests to detect the virus, etc.

This is how Corporación Azende decided to modify its production strategy to provide citizens with essential elements for disinfection, such as antiseptic alcohol and hypochlorous acid, identified with the Alcomacx and Hypomacx brands.

The delivery of 38,700 and 20,500 liters, respectively, in addition to 400,000 liters of Vivant water and juices to public institutions that worked on the front line began two weeks after the start of confinement.

Juan Carlos Crespo, executive president of Corporación Azende, mentions that its production is maintained.

Meanwhile, some industrial sectors contributed to the maintenance and recovery of the operation of mechanical respirators, as in the case of Kia Motors, which contributed to the assembly, materials and general costs of 100% electric artificial respirators for their review, approval and use. by the Ministry of Public Health.

Guayaquil was the first city most affected, so the aid was initially allocated to this city, as in the case of La Fabril, which distributed 50% of its donations there, as well as security supplies for the more than 600 people who make up your workforce.

They were also present in campaigns such as Put on your apron, to support restaurants during the pandemic; and the Ecuador Sustainable Supply Program, to offer Ecuadorian families the necessary tools to supply their homes.

For Gómez, executive director of Ceres, this crisis has strengthened the conviction that health and safety is the fundamental pillar of all business operations, “it has shown us the ability to reinvent ourselves quickly,” she says.