International Volunteer Day 2023: Sands Celebrates Team Member Efforts and Surpassing Its 2025 Volunteerism Target in Two Years
A culture of service is central to Sands’ regions around the world, and volunteerism is a core tenet of the Sands Cares community engagement program. As such, the company prioritized contribution of 150,000 Team Member volunteer hours to address the critical needs of its communities as one of three 2021-2025 targets for its corporate responsibility program.
However, in 2021-2022 Team Members provided extensive support for pandemic-related efforts. As a result of these efforts along with core Sands Cares volunteer initiatives, Sands surpassed its 2025 global target with 192,330 volunteer service hours logged by the end of 2022.
While a new target will be announced in the company’s next environmental, social and governance report in spring 2024, Team Members remain committed to important global and local volunteer initiatives.
In recognition of the United Nation’s International Volunteer Day 2023 on December 5, Sands is commemorating Team Members’ dedication to the company’s goal of making its communities better places to live, work and visit.
Here’s a look at some of the core Sands Cares volunteer efforts globally and in local regions:
Global Volunteer Initiatives
Since 2014, Sands has hosted the annual Sands Cares Global Hygiene Kit Build with Clean the World, in which thousands of Team Members assemble hygiene kits for people facing hardship and disaster situations in their local regions. Through 2022, Sands Team Members assembled 938,000 kits to aid Clean the World’s mission, and 2023 kit builds kicked off at Marina Bay Sands and corporate headquarters in October, with Sands China’s build scheduled for December.
Last year, Sands established another global volunteer initiative as regions joined forces for the annual Sands Cares Global Food Kit Build, which is being held in 2023 through a series of events in Macao and Singapore that began in June and continue into 2024. In June, more than 350 Marina Bay Sands Team Members and partners assembled 5,200 food kits for The Food Bank Singapore. Kits included rice, rolled oats, biscuits, condiments and instant beverages.
In Macao, Sands China will complete a series of activations from June 2023-March 2024, working with social service organization Caritas Macau. During that time, Sands Cares Ambassadors will assemble 3,000 food kits, totaling 21 tons, for distribution to community members, including elderly and disabled residents, economically disadvantaged families, and food bank recipients through Caritas Macau’s service centers.
Mass Volunteer Events
Marina Bay Sands’ annual Sands for Singapore Charity Festival is another major Team Member volunteer effort Sands is highlighting for International Volunteer Day 2023. Established in 2013, the multi-day event attracts thousands of visitors for an array of philanthropic activities, entertainment, shopping, dining and crafting. The festival encompasses a number of volunteer initiatives in the weeks leading up to the event and at the festival itself.
Held in August this year, the festival capped three weeks of Team Member volunteer efforts that included painting temporary homes for families in need, packing goodie bags for National Day and delivering them to seniors in nursing homes, and hosting families for learning tours and fun experiences at the resort. Team Members also accompanied senior residents from Care Corner Singapore and students from Care Singapore during the festival to enjoy entertainment, food and other activities. Team Member volunteer contributions totaled more than 4,700 hours between July 18 and August 6, 2023.
In Macao, Sands China’s Sands Shopping Carnival, the largest mass sales event in Macao, is another major Team Member volunteer effort. This annual event has welcomed more than 420,000 visitors since debuting in 2020. The July carnival drew nearly 110,000 visitors, and Team Members played a major role in the four-day event through Sands Cares Ambassador involvement. More than 80 Sands Cares Ambassadors contributed 200-plus hours of volunteer service at the carnival.
Ambassadors supported participating community organizations by helping operate booths and accompanying their members to see attractions at the carnival. For example, Sands Cares Ambassadors escorted members of the Macau Autism Association and General Association of Women to visit carnival game booths, as well as families from the Macao Federation of Trade Unions and the Women’s General Association of Macau to participate in food-prep and decorating activities led by Sands China’s food and beverage team.
Other Volunteer Initiatives Around the World
In addition to these large-scale volunteer programs, Sands is also sharing a number of volunteer activations its regions execute for International Volunteer Day 2023 that are aligned with their community partnerships and the core issues prioritized under Sands Cares.
In Macao, one of Sands China’s longest-standing community partnerships is with the Macau Special Olympics, which it has supported since 2005. In conjunction with the partnership, Sands Cares Ambassadors regularly volunteer to accompany Macau Special Olympics athletes at competitions and other enriching events and activities. Ambassadors also assist in health screening events and other efforts such as the annual Health Check Day. Additional long-time volunteer engagements include support for Caritas Macau’s annual Charity Bazaar and Charity Run and cleaning the homes of elderly residents before Lunar New Year.
In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands Team Members volunteer in a variety of ways to support the local community. In addition to supporting The Food Bank Singapore through the Sands Cares Global Food Kit Build, Team Members regularly sort food donations and take inventory at The Food Bank Singapore’s warehouse. Earlier this year, Marina Bay Sands hosted its Lunar New Year Food Drive. More than 5,200 kilograms of food items were donated by Team Members and the resort’s retail tenants, which translated to more than 15,500 meals for The Food Bank Singapore’s beneficiaries.
Supporting education and opportunities for youth is also a central theme for Marina Bay Sands. Since 2021, Marina Bay Sands has worked with CARE Singapore on its youth mentorship program in which Team Members guide local students through important milestones and provide perspectives beyond the classroom.
Marina Bay Sands Team Members have volunteered with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore School, which serves students ages seven to 18 with moderate to severe disabilities. Volunteers have helped facilitate co-curricular programs in the areas of drama, photography and other disciplines by providing administrative support and assisting with activities to reduce teacher workloads and enhance the student experience.
The resort’s Team Members also volunteer regularly with the AWWA School at Bedok, which serves individuals with special needs. Team Members provide support and friendship to students with autism as part of their co-curricular activities, which includes guiding students in dancing, drumming, and arts and crafts to help hone their coordination skills and promote creativity and appreciation for the arts.
At the corporate level, the Sands Cares volunteer committee began coordinating activities when the company moved into its new corporate headquarters earlier this year. Volunteer efforts kicked off with the Sands Cares Kit Build with Clean the World in October, and the committee has planned end-of-year activities with East Valley Family Services Center for Thanksgiving meal distribution to seniors, the Las Vegas Great Santa Run for Opportunity Village and the It’s a Wrap holiday gift drive with Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
“Year over year, our Team Members have demonstrated their compassion and willingness to make positive contributions to our communities through volunteerism,” said Ron Reese, senior vice president of global communications and corporate affairs, who spearheads corporate responsibility initiatives. “They bring tremendous enthusiasm, time and effort to volunteer programs that strengthen our regions and support people in need. Sands Cares is able to make impact because of them.”
Sands will restate its 2021-2025 Team Member volunteerism goal in the 2023 ESG Report to be released in spring 2024. To learn more about past volunteer efforts and the full gamut of Sands Cares Communities initiatives, read the 2022 ESG Report: https://www.sands.com/2022-environmental-social-and-governance-report/
