helping the earth is a team sport

Naomi Woodard was raised in a low-income household, but her dad never let that dissuade her from being charitable.

“My father instilled deep-rooted community values in me at an early age,” she said. “He often told me, ‘When you don’t have money to give, you will always have your time.’”
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Woodard grew to be an avid volunteer who regularly teams up with her Chevron colleagues.

Most recently, Woodard joined co-workers from a facility in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, to plant trees at the Woodlands Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust.

It wasn’t the first time they’d volunteered at the center. They previously planted vegetation there, participated in fundraising efforts and helped replace an aging pedestrian bridge on a hiking trail.

“I would encourage all workplace teams to use volunteering as a team building opportunity,” said Woodard, an Americas manufacturing and supply general manager at Chevron’s Oronite plant. “It helps you get to know your co-workers at a different level.”

Environmental volunteering can have a positive impact on several fronts.

And by working together to support the Earth and its inhabitants, more can be accomplished in a shorter time.

For instance, during a single volunteering event in February, Chevron’s Oronite employees planted 358 seedlings and 41 three-gallon native trees at the Woodlands Conservancy.

“The native trees provide an important source of food for wildlife and the thousands of birds that stopover at the preserve during spring and fall migration,” said Katie Brasted, executive director of the nonprofit.

Volunteer efforts underway at Woodlands Conservancy are just a few ways Chevron employees are giving back.

Similar efforts have been made elsewhere, including:

• Working with Restore the Earth Foundation to plant 3.7 million trees on 18,800 acres of land in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.
• Volunteering to collect nesting data on Western Australia’s Barrow Island to support Australia’s flatback sea turtles.
• Helping rescue four abandoned chimpanzees in Angola.

One Saturday morning last October, a group of Chevron colleagues met at a Mississippi beach, armed with pointy sticks and garbage bags.

Their mission was clear: to rid the Pascagoula shoreline of litter and, in the process, counter a popular misconception.

“The employees here are very invested in protecting the environment,” said Lacey Paquin, an emergency management specialist who participated in a coastal cleanup event last October.