The Covia Foundation
We believe that when our communities thrive, we all benefit from a brighter, more prosperous future. Across the organization, and with the help of our dedicated Team Members, we strive to give back to our communities by investing time, talent, and financial resources.
Our comprehensive community engagement and philanthropic initiatives are overseen by The Covia Foundation, which was established to formalize our approach to operating as a responsible corporate citizen. The Foundation governs our Community Investment Policy, which guides our charitable contributions and volunteerism. We regularly review the policy and revise its provisions as necessary to better enable site level investments in local communities. Building on our efforts in 2022 to update our fund allocation process in Canada, we extended this process to Mexico in 2023 to provide Team Members with more opportunities to invest in their local communities. As a result, The Covia Foundation was able to better support meaningful projects in Mexico during the year, further expanding our global reach and impact.
Covia Team Members are our most important asset and that’s why we’re committed to supporting them in every aspect of their lives. In 2023, we launched the Covia Cares Emergency Relief Fund to help Covia Team Members who need immediate financial assistance following an unforeseen personal hardship. We hope that our Team Members never need to use the Fund but we are pleased to have a new, confidential way to support them in times of need.
All Covia Team Members in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are eligible to apply for financial support through the program to cover medical expenses, housing and transportation costs, basic necessities, and more following an unexpected, life altering event.
Our primary means for investing in our communities include in-kind contributions, charitable donations to established 501(c)3 organizations, volunteerism, and disaster and hardship relief.
We are proud of our Team Members’ passion for serving their local communities and we empower them to pursue opportunities for volunteerism through several impactful offerings, including:
- 24 hours of paid volunteer time each year;
- Matching up to $1,000 of an individual Team Member’s
donations annually; and - Providing grants to tax-exempt organizations where Team Members volunteer at least 20 hours of their personal time and talent.
In addition to supporting Team Members’ individual volunteer efforts, we provide each Covia location with the opportunity to dedicate at least an entire workday to a volunteer effort or cause that is important to them through our Covia Cares Action Days.
2023 Community Impact & Philanthropy Highlights
More than $1M
Total Giving
+12,000
Volunteer Hours
34 Covia Cares Action Days
Our Team in Action
The Power of Giving Back: Covia’s Social Impact Efforts
At Covia, we believe that thriving communities can help change the world. That’s why The Covia Foundation, Covia’s philanthropic arm, has been investing in social impact for decades. We have worked with our partners and communities across the world to make a difference through time, talent, and financial support. This year, Covia employees have already donated hundreds of hours in the communities where we live and work. Below are a few ways our employees are making a difference.
Huntersville, North Carolina Office
Bags of Hope
Covia Team Members recently showed their support for Bags of Hope by assembling more than 140 bags of food for children in the local community. Bags of Hope is an organization that aims to provide weekend food supplies to school children in the Lake Norman, North Carolina, area who face food insecurity. Currently, they support over 700 kids in the region every weekend. These bags consist of nutritious breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and beverage items.
Covia and Monarch Joint Venture: United To Protect and Enhance Pollinator Populations
Covia is thrilled to be partnering with Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) in an effort to safeguard and enhance the habitat of the migratory monarch butterfly and other pollinators. Through MJV’s work, they aim to protect monarchs and their migration by collaborating with partners, like Covia, to deliver habitat conservation, education, and science across the monarch range. The monarch butterfly is facing significant challenges that have raised concerns about the sustainability of its long-distance migration. These obstacles have led to population declines, prompting consideration for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Factors such as habitat loss, climate change, pesticide use, and the decrease in milkweed plants, crucial for monarch breeding, have all contributed to this decline.
Our shared goal includes the distribution of milkweed plugs throughout the eastern monarch population range in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri, often referred to as the "Monarch Central Flyway." These efforts align with Covia's commitment to the conservation, restoration, and enrichment of biodiversity.
As part of our partnership, Covia will be distributing nearly 5,000 milkweed plugs to employees located within the monarch population footprint. We will be using various native milkweed species such as common, showy, swamp, butterfly, whorled, and spider milkweed to accommodate different regions. Milkweed plays a vital role as a food source and breeding ground for monarch butterflies.
Working Together to Address Hunger in Our Communities
Across the globe, Covia Team Members volunteered their time and resources in 2023 to help combat food insecurity in their communities. Here are a few examples of our Teams in action:
- In The Woodlands, Texas, Team Members decorated lunch bags and packed pre-packaged items for homebound seniors living in Montgomery County, Texas.
- Our Monterrey, Mexico, plant volunteered 39 hours at a local food bank, donating milk and water that benefited over 800 local residents.
- Team Members in Camden, Tennessee, spent a total of 43 hours over two days sorting food for deliveries, packing food donations, and preparing backpacks for children experiencing hunger.
- During the Thanksgiving season, our Elco/Tamms, Illinois, plant supported the Trinity Assembly of God Church Food Bank, while our Tuscaloosa, Alabama, plant supported the West Alabama Food Bank to provide food for those who need it most.
- During the Christmas season, the McIntyre, Georgia, plant supported the local food bank by holding a food drive at the facility. All Team Members participated and collected food for those in need.
Contact The Covia Foundation today at CoviaFoundation@CoviaCorp.com.
