Find out about EDP Volunteering Program in times of COVID-19
We know that in an emergency we must act NOW.
Our Volunteering Program comprises as many as 29 initiatives, which are available to all EDP Group employees in Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. We have a team of about 570 volunteers, 219 beneficiary NGOs, and we have helped more than 27.000 people.
Whether at home or outdoors, we dare to help tackle the consequences of the current pandemic and help those who need it most.
Together with our partners, we dare to act on several fronts:
Education
Study with Energy
Language classes for people in isolation
Student Keep
Healthcare
Serve the City (Lisbon and Porto)
Friendship on the line
Serve The City helps hundreds of people, especially elderly people and risk groups. Given the restrictions and social isolation recommendations from official authorities, our volunteers in Portugal help keep these people in touch through phone calls, thus promoting social interaction and a sense of belonging.
Production of materials (Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto)
Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a scarce and highly necessary good in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. EDP volunteers in Portugal have joined a collaborative production effort that has already delivered over 17.400 3D-printed PPE items, from coveralls to masks to face shields.
Messaging
Solidarity Letters
The idea behind this initiative, which has the collaboration of several EDP volunteers in Spain and Brazil, is to send letters or emails as a tool for combating social isolation and supporting both professionals and patients in hospitals and nursing homes. A simple share can make a huge difference to those who are feeling alone at this moment.
Food Goods
Partnership with AMI
A friend in need is a friend indeed!
An opportunity for EDP volunteers to help the AMI team purchase and distribute goods to its beneficiaries, who constitute a risk group and cannot leave their homes in the current context.
Partnership with SOS Vizinho
Delivering essential goods
SOS Vizinho (SOS Neighbor) was created to help identify risk groups (elderly people and chronically ill patients) in every administrative region in Portugal and set up a goods distribution network exclusively made up of volunteers. EDP volunteers have joined this project to provide these people with the essential goods they need, thus preventing them from leaving their homes and exposing themselves to contagion.
Administrative & Financial Support
An investment in the Community.
In addition to supporting several emergency initiatives, the EDP Volunteering Program in Portugal has pledged about €20,000 to organizations such as AMI, the Food Banks Federation, Comunidade Vida e Paz, Serve The City, and Entrajuda.
There are also several fund-raising initiatives in Brazil:
- Social Donation Fund: a volunteer campaign that aims to raise funds to help institutions and families in vulnerable situations.
- Chipping In and Social Raffle: Employee initiatives to raise financial resources and help local families.
Partnership with covid.pt
An effective response to new challenges
EDP has joined the covid.pt platform through its Corporate Volunteering Program. This platform makes it possible to harness all the innovative potential of Portuguese society into a collaborative process so as to find, improve and implement solutions that make a big difference in the lives of those who need them the most.
Our employees are helping in two ways - by managing the platform itself and by promoting volunteer initiatives to address the ideas that can be implemented.
