CMPC donates 400 thousand masks and more than 40 thousand bottles of alcohol gel for the care of election precinct monitors in the Chilean plebiscite

Empresas CMPC announced the donation of 400 thousand masks and more than 42 thousand bottles of alcohol gel to collaborate with the protection of the nearly 200 thousand election precinct monitors who will be summoned by the Electoral Service (Servel) for the Chilean plebiscite to be held on October 25.

The announcement was made at the National Stadium, one of the voting centers that will gather the largest number of voting tables, by the president of Empresas CMPC, Luis Felipe Gazitúa, together with the Minister of the General Secretary of the Presidency, Cristián Monckeberg; Valentín Díaz, director of the National Supply Center (Cenabast), the entity that will receive the donation for subsequent delivery to the Servel; and the Mayor of Ñuñoa, Andrés Zarhi.

The masks are manufactured by CMPC at the Puente Alto plant through its subsidiary of hygiene and personal protection products Softys. They correspond to the three-fold surgical type, which meet the highest standards of protection and filtering.

Meanwhile, the 42 thousand bottles of alcohol gel, also marketed in Chile by the subsidiary Softys, will be delivered free of charge by CMPC so that each voting table has at least one bottle.

A week after the official announcement of the contribution, in the city of Rancagua, in the O’Higgins region, Minister Monckeberg once again thanked and delivered the help of CMPC so that Chilean citizens can participate in the plebiscite safely.

On the other hand, to date, more than 2 million masks -of the 3 million committed- have been delivered free of charge to Cenabast, which has been in charge of distributing them to the municipalities of Independencia, Huechuraba, Renca, La Pintana, Recoleta, Conchalí and Puyehue; and some non-profit organizations such as Fundación Las Rosas, Hogar de Cristo, Firefighters of Chile and the Andean Relief Corps.

The current donation for the plebiscite is in addition to these 3 million committed.

In addition to the donations made in Chile to Cenabast, the company has managed to reach other localities and organizations with this protection supply. This is the case of the Puente Alto commune, where 40,000 masks have been delivered to neighborhood councils and senior homes, a commune where the company has been present for 100 years.

To which is added the delivery of 30 thousand masks to the Ministry of Justice to be distributed among the Gendarmerie health officials and 20 thousand to the Teletón Foundation to distribute to families throughout the country.

And, finally, in the southern area – where CMPC has operations – more than 70,000 have been delivered to different locations in the Biobío and La Araucanía regions, including Los Angeles, Angol, Nacimiento, Collipulli, Mulchén and Negrete

In the case of Brazil, from April to date, the company has donated more than 600 thousand masks in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, of which 400 thousand were destined to the State Government and the rest to the Gaucho municipalities where the company is present. with port or forestry operation. By the end of August, a total of 1 million masks will have been donated for that state, all of them produced by Softys. Furthermore, in the state of Paraná 260 thousand units have already been donated, of which 200 thousand were destined for the State Government and 60 thousand for the municipality of Mallet; in Sao Paulo 560 thousand masks were delivered up to July, of which 350 thousand correspond to the State Government, 150 thousand to the municipality of Caieiras and 60 thousand to the municipality of Mogi das Cruzes. Finally, in Pernambuco 160 thousand masks were donated: 100 thousand for the State Government; 30 thousand for the municipality of Jaboatão dos Guararapes and 30 thousand for Recife.

CMPC Solidaria

Collaborators of the company, motivated to contribute in the midst of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus -and who through their daily field work and outreach to the community raised the need to go to the aid of the most vulnerable groups-, created “CMPC Solidaria”.

The initiative consists on delivering meals to elder people, many of whom are currently having difficulties to buy their basic needs, in the communes where CMPC has an industrial and forestry presence in southern Chile.

The solidarity meals are being held from Monday to Sunday during the months of July and August, in 6 communes of the Biobío and La Araucanía regions, being prepared every day between 60 and 150 servings per commune. This adds up to more than 50 thousand meals in these two months. Likewise, 200 solidarity lunches will also be distributed for two months in the Puente Alto commune, in the Metropolitan region.

In addition, the project seeks to reactivate local small and medium-sized enterprises, for which reason for the food preparation service there were hired local cooks and for the distribution of the meals, school buses and carriers, all of them from each sector, thus reaching directly to the home of each older adult.

All CMPC Solidaria processes have compliance with strict protocols for the prevention of infections, either by CMPC volunteers and contracted enterprises.

Also, the company will donate 10 thousand lunches in the Bajos de Mena sector in a period of two weeks, starting on August 18.

The contribution consists of food for 30 common pots that will distribute 6 thousand daily rations to residents of the villas belonging to that sector.

Supporting the population at risk

In addition to this initiative, in order to help in taking care of the most vulnerable population in the context of the health crisis caused by the Coronavirus, CMPC, also through Softys, made a donation to the National Service for the Elder People of Chile (SENAMA) consisting of 100,000 units of Cotidian adult diapers and one thousand units of 1-liter Elite Professional alcohol gel bottles.

SENAMA will be in charge of distributing this aid, which will be delivered by the public entity in the most affected regions, such as La Araucanía, Biobío, Ñuble and Metropolitan.

In addition, on April 28, at the Chilean government house, the company made its contribution to nine residences of the National Service for Minors (Sename), which consists of hygiene and prevention elements, such as alcohol gel, surgical gloves, surgical masks, lab coats and face shields that will benefit 251 highly vulnerable boys and girls from Sename homes in the communes of Puente Alto (3 residences), Los Angeles (4), Collipulli (1) and Cañete (1).

Following this line, on April 30, the company also donated 30 liters of liquid soap, 30 liters of alcohol gel, 60 rolls of paper towels, 100 packages of baby wipes, 200 rolls of toilet paper and a thousand masks to the Municipality of Talagante, in the Metropolitan region.

Also, CMPC donated 100,000 diapers to the Teletón, to be distributed among the families of the institution, and the company announced a new contribution consisting of 20,000 masks to support the work of the Telethon professionals, especially for when they return to face-to-face care in their rehabilitation centers.

Protecting individual collectors

Also, CMPC, committed to Chile’s paper and cardboard individual collectors, donated 250 hygiene and personal care kits together with the Ministry of Environment and the Fabril Development Society (Sofofa).

Sanitizing streets and public spaces

On the other hand, continuing with CMPC’s commitment to its neighbors, the company will take sanitary measures in the Chilean communes of Puente Alto and Buin (Metropolitan region); Santa Juana, Santa Bárbara, Quilaco, Contulmo, Tirúa, San Rosendo, Nacimiento, Laja, Los Ángeles and Mulchén (Biobío region); Angol, Los Sauces, Collipulli, Ercilla, Victoria, Nueva Imperial, Cunco, Chol Chol, Carahue, Toltén, Loncoche, Cañete, Gorbea and Villa Mininco (La Araucanía region), such as disinfection in public spaces, entrances of health centers, entrances of the plants of the company, and in the busiest streets.

Mobile Clinics

Also, together with Desafío Levantemos Chile, the company is part of the “Mobile Clinics” project, an initiative that seeks to decongest the public and private health network of the Biobío and La Araucanía regions, and also the commune of Puente Alto in the Metropolitan region, through vans that allow people to take medical care at their private homes, get medicines, get vaccinated against flu and even test for the coronavirus without having to leave their homes. To date, six Mobile Clinics are operating in the above-mentioned localities.

Field hospital in southern Chile

The company enabled its former offices in the city of Los Angeles, Biobío region, in Chile, transforming them into a field hospital with 116 beds and medical equipment to serve low and medium complexity patients free of charge.

On June 4, CMPC handed over to the regional health authorities the premises located on Avenida Alemania.

The dependencies were enabled with clinical spaces, a resuscitation room, staff residence, interior cladding, clinical and administrative furniture, as well as bathroom fixtures and accessories, with the provision of hot and cold potable water.

Commited to our workers

As a company we have also taken different measures and have generated various actions that allow us to take care of our workers and also continue with the production of our products that today are so necessary for people.

The continuity of our operations is of utmost importance, since the products we manufacture – such as cellulose, tissue products, cardboard, wood, among others – are key to the elaboration of articles that are so necessary for society today, such as masks, diapers, toilet paper, food or medicine packaging, etc.

The company has deployed progressive internal management protocols since February to ensure full compliance with the recommendations of health authorities worldwide and locally. These protocols have been regularly updated according to recommendations of the World Health Organization, health authorities in each of the countries where the company operates and the best international experiences.

In fact, preventively, we are taking steps to operate with as few people as possible, aware that minimizing the risk of exposure and contagion requires avoiding as much contact as possible between people.

The care and protection measures for the entire CMPC team, in all the countries where we operate, include the implementation of a home office for administrative personnel -a measure that has been carried out since March 16 and which has had very good results-, adequacy of operational shifts to minimize contact within our plants and implementation of protocols for cleaning, food and transport services.

Among the measures that have been taken in each plant are intense and permanent tasks of sanitation, control that conglomerations are avoided in public spaces, distance demarcations have been established to avoid physical contact between collaborators, an increase in the number of buses so that less people congregate within them, among others. New measures are constantly being analyzed to be incorporated and thus decrease the risk of contagion from the virus.

Without the daily work of all the collaborators who continue to work in the factories – under all the safety and hygiene measures imposed by the protocols – it would not be possible to continue the operations to maintain the productive chain at the service of society. To them, thank you very much!

Additionally, we have taken other precautionary measures that help minimize opportunities for contact with the virus. Domestic and international travel have been cancelled, privileging virtual meetings, either by phone or videoconference. Event attendance has also been suspended until further notice.

To keep the company’s employees informed, CMPC’s CEO, Francisco Ruiz-Tagle, has conducted Dialogues via videoconference, accompanied by Dr. Carlos Pérez, dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the San Sebastian University, and specialist in infectious diseases, with collaborators of the different plants and offices of the three business areas.

In addition, from the Dialogues, the CEO visited CMPC Cellulose plants in southern Chile (Pacífico, Santa Fe and Plywood) to personally that the safety and hygiene measures are being complied, as well as he had some time to talk to the workers and to answer to their doubts or concerns.

The company remains very attentive to the evolution and impact of Coronavirus in the different markets where it operates, in order to generate the measures that allow to face this situation quickly and responsibly.