IPI’s world-class corporate social responsibility program

First of a two-part column

Editor’s Note: The following is being published in two parts due to its length.

Imperial Pacific International’s Corporate Social Responsibility work has clearly become a force in the community. Only two years since its inception, its imprint on the islands’ consciousness has already become significant.
This feat is primarily rooted in IPI’s community outreach and, to date, has served an unprecedented number of the Commonwealth’s population through various initiatives. Its community engagement has raised business-community partnership to new heights.

Since 2015, it has been at the forefront in protecting the environment, preserving and promoting the islands’ culture, supporting public education, and advocating for the health of the community.

The CNMI government and major nongovernmental organizations have recognized IPI’s community support and outreach as responsible and of great value, with an unprecedented joint legislative recognition given to a company.

Should anyone ever ask you where you were on the evening of Aug. 2, 2015, one would venture to say that most of you would have readily available a detailed account of every minute of that evening. Let us not be reminded of the horrors we all awoke to on the morning after Typhoon Soudelor struck. The devastation was reflected in the faces of everyone around the island. There were people standing in the streets and on top of collapsed roofs in utter disbelief that everything was destroyed. The beautiful island paradise had been, in just a matter of hours, pulverized and leveled, leaving only an unrecognizable wreck.

It was in the midst of this tragic disaster that one saw just how resilient the CNMI is. In the early morning hours Saipan residents were already working to remove debris, trying to salvage whatever they could of their property and offering a helping hand to their neighbors.

Beach Road had become a jungle no one could penetrate, with fallen trees as tall as buildings littering our roadways for miles. Interestingly, unlike the shallow-rooted flame trees that line Beach Road or the Australian pine trees at the American Memorial Park, both of which suffered severe damage in the typhoon, the deep-rooted banyan, known to many as the Taotao mona’ tree, withstood the strong winds. It may be true that some of its branches were torn away during the storm, but nonetheless the Taotao mona’ tree continues to stand in our islands today.

It is only fitting that the Taotao mona’ tree would be the most resilient tree in such a storm. The people of the CNMI revere this tree as a home for the spirits of our ancestors. And like our ancestors, we stay deeply rooted in our culture so that we remain strong as a people. There is a saying, “When the roots are deep, there is no need to fear the wind.”

2015 to now
Imperial Pacific International, in the hopes of benefitting the community, initiated as part of their operations a department solely dedicated to social good, the Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR team.

Since 2015, CSR has grown into a robust, sustainable program, composed of 30 local-born-and-raised members with a variety of skills and talents. Since its inception, the CSR team has successfully directed the company’s resources into the community without compromising local culture and traditions.

CSR has been a partner in our community for almost two years. Although we are primarily situated on the island of Saipan, we have extended our services and community outreaches to our sister islands of Rota and Tinian.

CSR is definitely a new term in our community. Most know us by the acronym “CSR” versus its full meaning—Corporate Social Responsibility. This is primarily due to the numerous partnerships we have established with our government and non-government organizations.

Over the past two years, CSR has collaborated with over 70 partners and mobilized over 1,000 volunteers. We partnered in and organized close to 400 CSR events, contributed over 180,000 man-hours in our communities, and made over $850,000 in community donations.

Environment

In the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Soudelor, Imperial Pacific International played a crucial role in providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief to the community. We knew that the community needed assistance to recover from this disaster and therefore immediately contributed to the American Red Cross and other organizations. We joined Karidat and other service organizations in delivering basic necessities to families around the island. We partnered with the Saipan Mayor’s Office in recovery efforts around the island, which included debris cleanup in the villages.

Imperial Pacific donated a total of $750,000 (cash and in-kind), contributed over 24,000 man-hours and reached about 30 villages in its effort to help the CNMI recover in the aftermath of Typhoon Soudelor.

To be continued on Monday