The children of Palestine do Pará, a remote town located in the state of Pará in northern Brazil usually only get to see Christmas celebrations on television. This year, however, was different. Christmas was brought to them courtesy of a fleet of IVECO trucks filled to the brim with presents and toys – the culmination of two months of team work and charitable donations organized by IVECO’s employees, customers, dealers and suppliers.
IVECO, a brand of CNH Industrial, kick-started the initiative at its annual Gincana do Caminhoneiro, a skills and driving competition for professional truck drivers, in Campo Largo, Paraná state where the participating drivers were invited to donate toys. They were joined by an IVECO customer in the city of Laranjal Paulista, Sao Paulo who donated thousands of toys and were also assisted by employees from FPT Industrial, the powertrain brand of CNH Industrial.
The campaign for donations spread throughout the whole IVECO supply chain; from dealerships, through to suppliers and customers, and also involved the employees at the IVECO manufacturing plant in Sete Lagoas, in Minas Gerais state. In all, after two months of hard work 3,685 toys were collected, which were subsequently distributed to 2,280 children.
The village of Palestine do Pará was chosen due to its location in a particularly inaccessible part of the Country and for its low Human Development Index (HDI), a tool developed by the United Nations to measure levels of social and economic development. The trucks traveled some 5,000 kilometers, over rough terrain and through extreme weather conditions to reach the village. On entering the main square, the drivers were welcomed by a sea of smiling faces and excited children as Santa Claus stepped down from one of the trucks to start handing out Christmas presents.
The looks on the children’s faces were ample reward for the IVECO truck drivers who had battled through treacherous conditions to deliver this precious Christmas cargo – a gift made possible through collective team work, hard work and solidarity. To integrate more effectively in the countries in which CNH Industrial operates, the Company adopts social initiatives that respect both people and the region.