Freighter Group has received the Community Leadership Award presented at the 2018 HVIA Regional Awards
The HVIA took the opportunity to recognise Freighter Group for its leadership towards driving awareness around the number of charities it supports.
The annual HVIA Regional Awards Night was hosted at KPMG in Melbourne on the 19th October, 2018, with the accolades presented on the night recognising some of the great work within the industry. Freighter Group was presented with the Community Leadership Award for its work with local charities.
Accepting the award was Natasha Robinson, Freighter Group Group Health, Safety & Environmental Manager, “Freighter Group is proud to support a number of charities in which the award was received for including ‘R U OK? Day’, SecondBite and the Ballarat SoupBus,” she said. Adding that supporting each cause is a great way for Freighter Group to be able to give back to the community and provide much needed assistance to those in need.
Freighter Group received the HVIA Community Leadership Award for its work with charities ‘R U OK?’, SecondBite and the Ballarat Soup Bus. Pictured left to right: HVIA Board Member, Rod Cunningham. Moreton Hire, Marisa Fernandez. Freighter Group Group Health, Safety & Environmental Manager, Natasha Robinson. HVIA CEO, Todd Hacking.
R U OK? Day is held every September and encourages people to ask friends, colleagues and family members ‘R U OK?’ to raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention. Since September 2017, Freighter Group’s total donation to ‘R U OK?’ totals to almost $27,000. The donation was raised via a campaign on ‘R U OK? Day’, whereby Freighter Group committed to donating 1% of the purchase price from all new trailers, truck bodies ordered, and parts purchased from participating outlets on the day, being contributed to the cause.
(September 2017) Freighter Group donated 1% of its daily transactions to ‘R U OK?’. Since September 2017, Freighter Group has donated a total of almost $27,000 to the charity.
Natasha said that mental health forms part of one of the Company’s values to send all our people home safely. “Freighter Group is committed to improving safety for both our customers and our employees. We place significant emphasis on safety in our own manufacturing and service facilities as well as designing our products for safe operation by owners and operators. Adding that safety extends to mental wellbeing not only at work but also at home. Which is why in addition to the mental awareness campaign, we also make professional services available to our employees and their families as part of ongoing support,” Natasha said.
Also recognised in the Community Leadership award was Freighter Group charitable endeavours delivered in time for Christmas last year, helping the homeless and less fortunate at a time that can be particularly difficult for those in need. Freighter Group was approached by the OnTrack Foundation asking for assistance to paint a much needed second ‘Soup Bus’, after the requirements from its original bus reached capacity.
The Soup Bus is an after dark meal service providing meals to the homeless and less fortunate in the Ballarat region five nights a week, 52 weeks a year. Freighter Group agreed to supply the resources to paint the bus using the same modern, high quality paint booth that it uses to produce its leading semi-trailer brands, with paint supplied by PPG. “The Soup Bus is such a great cause providing much needed support for the local community. It was also fantastic to see the support of Freighter Group staff who donated goods to the non-perishable food drive to provide much needed supplies before Christmas,” said Natasha.
(December 2017) Freighter Group Managing Director & CEO, Dean Jenkins, hands over the keys of the newly painted Soup Bus to Craig Schepsis, OnTrack Foundation President. Also pictured are David Barendsen and Andy Brough from PPG
In addition to helping the Soup Bus, Freighter Group also donated the cost of its annual customer Christmas gift program to food charity, SecondBite. SecondBite works with over 1,200 community food programs across Australia to redistribute rescued food to those in our community who need it most. Freighter Group donation assisted SecondBite to deliver an additional 20,000 meals in 2017/2018 to Australian families going through tough times.
“I personally feel proud to work for a Company that actively supports such great charities and enjoy being involved in driving awareness not only within Freighter Group, but also within the industry,” said Natasha.
While the award recognised the work done by Freighter Group in the 2017/18 financial year, the Company is committed to continuing its work with charities, providing much needed support across the community. Most recently, Freighter Group joined forces with the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) and WA Truck Drivers to offer support for Drought-stricken farmers. Freighter Group loaned a trailer to help deliver much needed supplies to those in need via the ‘Drive for Life’ campaign.
