Every thread of our global community has seen the pandemic’s impacts, including those who make VF products. Across Asia, COVID-19 temporarily halted the operations at hundreds of manufacturing sites. In turn, thousands of vulnerable garment workers continue to suffer through financial stress and food insecurity with their families.
Compelled to help, The VF Foundation invested more than US$320,000 to support garment workers throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including its two most recent grants in India and Cambodia.
GoodWeave International: Relief for Indian Children
Throughout India, garment workers and their children have grappled with challenges wrought by COVID-19. Over 80% of Indian apparel workers surveyed by GoodWeave report they lost their job since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of those people have struggled to put food on the table for their families ever since.
To help those impacted most by the global pandemic, The VF Foundation donated US$50,000 to Goodweave for relief work in India. The donation directly funded enough food packs to feed nearly 4,000 families of four for up to one month.
Filled with rice, flour, dal (lentils), oil, sugar, salt, as well as soap, the packs provide essential nutrition and sustenance during this critical time. In total, the gift positively impacted approximately 16,000 garment industry workers and their children in Northern India.
The provisions included nutritious food, face masks, and sanitization items designed to help keep kids healthy and safe in school. The emergency rations were distributed to residents in and around Gurgaon, a city on the southwest periphery of New Delhi, Haryana, and the surrounding areas of Ghaziabad and Faridabad, where thousands of garment workers reside.
The funding for this latest round of gifting was generated primarily from a cause-marketing campaign conducted by VF’s running shoe brand, Altra®. Throughout April 2020, the brand donated the proceeds of one of its most popular running shoes to the GlobalGiving COVID Relief Fund.
The VF Foundation matched those dollars two-for-one, which more than tripled their efforts and brought the total donation to US$100,000. Further proving that VF, our family of brands, and The VF Foundation are truly stronger together.
