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Nina Varghese

When the courier guys landed at Chennai's Mercy Home, the inmates were delighted to receive a surprise packet... A heart-warming gesture by FedEx employees.

Drop off'' and "pick up'' are words used very often in the normal workday of a Federal Express (FedEx) employee. In the fast-paced work-life they lead, these words are used with no further thought than the express parcels they pick up and drop off. But for Kalyan Subramaniam, Regional Sales Manager, FedEx - South India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, and his team, these words soon came to mean something more.

It was one Saturday afternoon when they sat reviewing their sales figures that a random suggestion set them thinking. The team had performed well and one team member felt that as a corporate they had a larger responsibility towards society.

Subramaniam says he asked his team to go ahead and identify something they could do together. The team zeroed in on Mercy Home, a shelter for destitute and homeless people in Kilpauk — a residential area in Chennai. They decided to find out more about the home and what they could do to help its inmates. One of the things they did was to sit and listen to the residents talk about their lives and problems.

"Not having someone special to talk to can be a very distressing factor in your life," says R. Sneha, a Chennai-based social worker. Many inmates are lonely and if there is someone who can simply listen to them it would do them a lot of good, she says.

The FedEx sales team, accompanied by their families, brought lunch and shared it with the residents of Mercy Home. The biryani and good cheer did work its miracle, they say. They also gifted money, clothes, bed-sheets, curtains and other everyday things.

They know this is a small beginning. But the team came away with poignant memories and a determination to continue the work, says Subramaniam. FedEx, as a policy, encourages employees to involve themselves in social outreach programmes. In India, FedEx supports CRY (Child Relief and You — a non-governmental organisation). Last year it supported four CRY projects — the Mon Foundation (Kolkata), Lokhit Samajik Sanstha, The Association of People with Disability and Arambh. This year the company is associated with another project called JAAG.

Jacques Creeten, Managing Director, FedEx, Indian sub-continent, says that the team in Chennai was keen to do something, in addition to what the company was doing worldwide. The Chennai team decided to support Mercy Home, as it shelters people who have nowhere to go. "Since this is an effort on the part of the employees, there is no institutional support from FedEx. However, the employees seem very enthusiastic and committed, so I think at least some of them will continue to contribute in whatever way they can," says Creeten. "FedEx cares deeply about the communities in which we live and work. We offer financial and other support for charities that promote educational, artistic, cultural, civic and humanitarian well-being," he adds.

Each year, thousands of FedEx employees volunteer money, talent, resources and time — about one lakh hours — towards charitable organisations supported by FedEx. The company also recognises employees who go beyond the call of duty with a "Humanitarian Award". The company's mission is to become a carrier of choice, the employer of choice and the neighbour of choice, says Creeten.

Picture by Bijoy Ghosh

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