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| Gildan's locations in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Haiti each have their own donations budget. Each country location also has its own donations committee, which evaluates requests in relation to the corporate donation policy. |
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HONDURAS |
| Instituto Politécnico Centroamericano (IPC) |
| In August 2005, the Central American Polytechnical Institute (Instituto Politécnico Centroamericano - IPC), the first technical institute in Central America developed with a view to training personnel for the textile and apparel industries as well as industrial maintenance for all industries, welcomed its first group of 60 students who attended classes on various aspects of apparel and textile manufacturing, as well as electromechanics. During the year, IPC developed additional programs to better respond to industry needs. In addition to its one-year program, the Institute added seminars and short programs designed to address specific training needs. Currently there are more than 500 students enrolled at IPC and since 2005, 951 students have graduated from the program. |
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In 2007, Gildan made a donation of U.S. $80,000 to fund the construction of a new six-classroom building for the Noemi Ferrera School. The municipality of Choloma, collaborated with Gildan assisting with all the permits and documentation the project required. This new building was erected on a small piece of land donated by a local farmer in the village of Rio Nance, Choloma.
Gildan also cooperated with additional funds to finance school supplies for the children and also maintained the partnership with the World Food Program, thus providing a meal for every child, on every school day. This school, which provides education to more than 150 students from kindergarten through sixth grade, was officially inaugurated in June 2007. To date, Noemi Ferrera is one of the few schools under the PROHECO (Programa Hondureno de Educacion Comunitaria) program that has its own school building. |
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| In 2007, Gildan offered scholarships to fifty students at IPC enrolled in the different one-year programs - clothing manufacturing, electricity or mechanics - which started in January 2007. This year is the second of Gildan's five-year commitment to finance the scholarship program at IPC. |
| Other initiatives related to youth and education |
| Alliance with World Food Program (WFP) - As part of the commitment to support the school Nohemy Ferrera, located in Rio Nance, Choloma, Gildan agreed with the World Food Program (WFP) to provide a daily meal for all the 150 children who attend the school. A part of the Company's commitment to youth and education, Gildan also donated to the pre-school program in Choloma for children under the age of 6 who do not have access to formal pre-school training. |
| INCAE - For the past four years Gildan has been providing an annual scholarship to the INCAE program who selects a student demonstrating business leadership which will allow him or her to attend university. INCAE, a leading institution of higher education in Central America is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. |
| Fundación Ecológica Rodrigo Pastor Fasquelle (Ecological Foundation) - Gildan has been providing financial support to Fundación Ecológica Rodrígo Pastor Fasquelle for four years. This organization is committed to offering environmental education to primary and secondary school students. |
| Teleton - The Teleton foundation is a non-profit organization created in 1987, which provides physical rehabilitation. The foundation has centres for disabled people in different areas of Honduras. Every December it organizes a campaign to raise money in order to keep their centres running. Gildan and its employees have been supporting this cause since 2003. |
| Obras sociales Vicentinas - Obras sociales Vicentinas is a foundation that aims at providing support to vulnerable people including children and youth. In 2006, Gildan committed to providing a monthly contribution to the organization. This foundation runs orphanages and vocational schools mainly for street children. |
| In September 2007, FELIX, a strong tropical storm hit Honduras with heavy rain causing flooding and power failures. To alleviate the impacts during and after the storm, Gildan put together four different teams to conduct needs assessments in areas where the majority of employees, their children or immediate family members live. These teams provided help to the parties managing the shelters and donated non-perishable food as well as basic necessity perishable products. Gildan also sent its plant doctors to the shelters. |
| In addition, Gildan donated basic necessities to the municipalities. Dinner was also provided for 150 people in the community, along with financial assistance for nine employees whose properties were damaged by the flooding. |
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NICARAGUA |
| Gildan financed the painting of Nicaragua's prestigious Rivas Parish |
| Rivas' impressive parish, which was built in 1854, captured the attention of Gildan's management team, during the initial visits to this city in Nicaragua. This imposing neocolonial church had deteriorated through time and needed to be restored. In order to re-establish the church's magnificence and give back to the community, Gildan accepted to finance the painting of its exterior. The project occurred from December 2005 to February 2006. A total of 500 people attended the church for the inauguration ceremony. |
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC |
| Bella Vista Community Centre - The Bella Vista Community Centre is a place where technical courses are offered to participants. The Centre needed many repairs in order to be more functional for the students and other users. Gildan has made a contribution to the Centre, in order to help the persons in charge make the necessary repairs. |
| The school of Futuro Vivo, Arcadia Reyes, Mata Vaca and La Granja schools, which teach about 1,700 students and are located in the vicinity of our facility, received support to improve school transportation and to repair installations. |
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HAITI |
| In November 2006, Gildan sponsored the 1st Haiti-Dominican Republic Friendship Games, by way of an important donation of t-shirts. The games were held from November 24 to November 26, 2006 in Ganthier, Haiti and in Jimani, Dominican Republic. The objective of the games was to initiate a climate of friendship and peace between the countries, by involving their youth in sports activities on both sides of the border. More than 2,000 people attended the opening of the games, as well as the presidents of Haiti and of the Dominican Republic, representatives of the United Nations Secretariat and members of the International Olympic Committee. A total of 5,000 athletes between the ages of 12 and 17 participated in the sports competitions. |
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| As a result of torrential rains that fell on the island of Haiti and the Dominican Republic in May 2004, the homes and belongings of thousands of residents were washed away. Gildan responded immediately by delivering 7,000 shirts to Haitian victims of the storm, and another 7,000 shirts to those in the Dominican Republic. A few months later, when Hurricane Jeanne hit Haiti's Gonaïves region, Gildan provided a $15,000 donation to the Canadian Red Cross, which helped in the creation of an emergency hospital as well as the repair of the region's permanent hospital. |
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In 2004, Gildan donated $25,000 to UNICEF, earmarked for relief work in Haiti for children and their families affected by civil unrest. In addition, food baskets were sent to families of employees who were affected by the shortages caused by the country-wide economic disruption. |
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