Corby 2018 Annual Report – People & Communities | Corporate Social Responsibility

Responsib’all Day

Responsib’All Day is a day in June of each year when we, and our global colleagues, spend a day away from our daily tasks to help out with community projects. The focus of Corby’s 2018 Responsib’All Day was on supporting the availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all, which is one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Our efforts stemmed from our partnership with Swim Drink Fish, a Canadian charity working for a swimmable, drinkable and fishable future. By blending science, law, education and storytelling with technology, Swim Drink Fish empowers millions of people to know and safeguard their waters. The organization also produces the Swim Guide, which tracks water quality on more than 7,000 beaches and has one million users each year.

Corby was the exclusive wine and spirits sponsor of Swim Drink Fish’s annual Toronto gala in 2018. This is the largest environmental water gala in Canada, attracting high-profile thought leaders and business executives. In return, Swim Drink Fish mailed testing kits to all of our regional offices with instructions on how to take a water sample and send it to a lab for processing. This enabled our employees to add data to the Swim Guide and create our own unique watermark for our watersheds across Canada.

Regional projects included the following:

Alberta – We continued our relationship with the Easter Seals camp by doing a full cleanup of the campgrounds in time for summer campers. Water testing was conducted as part of the cleanup.

British Columbia – We partnered with the Seymour River Fish Hatchery to address the issue of important nutrients being blocked by the Seymour Dam from flowing into the lower river. Volunteers filled bags with pellets of fertilizer, which were then placed at various locations across the channel. The fertilizer slowly leaks out, promoting algae growth which feeds the bugs that feed the fish.

Ontario – Swim Drink Fish staff and volunteers taught our Toronto team about the waterkeepers education program. The session was set up as a scavenger hunt in which teams competed to gather scientific evidence (e.g., water samples, pictures of pollution) along the Toronto Harbour, and to learn facts about water pollution and how citizens can help curb it.

For the third year in a row, Hiram Walker & Sons partnered with the United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County to revitalize Ford City by cleaning up and painting a colour gallery in the alleyways, installing an irrigation system in the community garden, replanting roadside planters, planting and mulching resident gardens, and painting little free libraries that will be installed at the community garden. As part of the day, water testing was conducted on the Detroit River.

Québec – An environmental biologist from the City of Cowansville taught our Montréal office and Ungava teams about invasive plant species on the Yamaska River. Our volunteers then removed invasive species along 800 metres of the river and replanted local species that help prevent shoreline erosion.

#CorbySafeRides

This was the fifth year that we helped Torontonians get home safely on New Year’s Eve by paying for their rides on Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) buses, streetcars and subways. Our message with #CorbySafeRides is simple: please don't drink and drive. Our campaign is part of our ongoing commitment to raising awareness about responsible consumption – not just on New Year’s Eve, but all year round.

To get the word out, we executed an integrated public relations campaign that featured influencer and media relations, experiential events, content sponsorships, social media and digital advertising. We were especially pleased to be joined by spokespeople such as Ontario’s Minister of Transportation and a mother who had lost her son to a drunk driver to help extend awareness of the campaign and remove the barriers that can be attached to corporate sponsorships.

Again this past year, we extended the #CorbySafeRides initiative by offering additional free, safe rides through a retail program at the LCBO. During the holiday season, consumers found complimentary TTC tokens on some of Corby’s most popular products. Over 24,000 tokens were placed on select bottles of J.P. Wiser’s Canadian whisky, Polar Ice vodka and Lamb’s rum at LCBO stores across the Greater Toronto Area.

Our message with #CorbySafeRides is simple: please don’t drink and drive.

We re-launched limited edition Polar Ice vodka bottles with the iconic polar bear missing from the label to bring attention to the threats facing the world’s polar bear population.