Unilever, retailers work to fight social issues worsened by pandemic

Unilever is taking a new step in its United for America Initiative, bringing retail partners into its efforts to tackle challenges facing Americans as the pandemic wears on. Working with retailers, Unilever is looking to address the education gap, access to food and essential supplies, and an uptick in losses of women-owned businesses — dubbed the She-cession.

“For Unilever, giving back is at the center of our culture,” said Terry Thomas, Unilever’s chief customer officer, in an interview with Drug Store News. “Unilever has never wavered around the notion that doing good in our communities is also doing good for business. When the pandemic started, we felt it was critically important that we do something to help our communities, because they were in great need, and that was the birth of United for America.”

The first phase of the initiative, which launched in March with a focus on relief, saw Unilever give $25 million worth of donations to organizations, individuals and families. In the initiative’s second phase, Unilever said it would contribute an additional $5 million in goods and services from September through the end of the year — in partnership with some major retailers. 

“Our second phase is about rebuilding, so we thought it made the most sense to partner with our retailers, because many of them are also wanting to make a difference,” Thomas said. “By combining forces, we can make a bigger impact.”

Dollar General, Vons, Pavilion, Albertsons, H-E-B and others also will contribute a range of items, including computers and data plans, food bank items and financial support to community organizations. 

All told, Unilever and participating retailers will be supporting 10 U.S. communities, including Houston, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Detroit and New York, as well as Fort Wayne, Ind., and North and South Carolina. Thomas said there would be particular focus on vulnerable populations, including cash-strapped families, women-owned business and Black and Hispanic populations.

In addressing unemployment among women, Thomas said Unilever wanted to help a population that has been particularly hard hit by pandemic-related job losses. In an effort to help grow the skill base women-owned businesses, the company is partnering with collaboration hub Luminary —  which focuses on empowering professional women to develop business skills needed to succeed. The company and Luminary are investing $500,000 in grants for 250 women-owned businesses. 

“Unilever is partnering with Luminary to help women develop business skills and give them access to tools and various resources they can use to hopefully sustain themselves during economic recessionary times,” Thomas said. “Women-owned businesses are struggling and we think that Luminary is going to be a fantastic option to help women tap into the global network and give them training, tools and access to help them as they navigate these very difficult times. 

On the education gap front, Unilever said it and its retail partners would support Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Philadelphia and Southern California, as well as other local NGOs nationwide, to create education opportunity by providing funding for computers, technology resources and educational supplies.

“One in 5 households with school children who are learning at home don't have access to a computer, which makes it virtually impossible for them to learn,” Thomas said. “We think we have a big opportunity to try and make a difference. We're working to provide laptops and wifi for remote learning to help many of these vulnerable youths to help prevent them from falling behind.” 

Additionally, Unilever said that it also was working with retailers to continue donating essential food and supplies to communities most in need, in particular low-income areas and areas with large populations of people of color, including Philabundance in Philadelphia and the Community Harvest Food Bank in Fort Wayne, Ind. 

Thomas noted that H-E-B, Dollar General and Albertsons have been particularly strong partners as it has undertaken the United for America initiative. In Houston, H-E-B helped donate more than 2,500 digital devices to students in the area, and Dollar General helped with efforts meant to bolder Literacy Speaks in the Fort Wayne, Ind., area. Albertsons, Thomas said, was a big partner in enabling food donations to Southern California food banks. 

He noted that anyone interested in being more involved can visit weareunitedforamerica.com/