Contribute to positive social transformation and sustainable development in the territories where the company operates. It is with this objective that Albras employees and their families, as well as contracted partner companies, dedicate time, skills and resources to the development of initiatives aligned with the company's social responsibility strategy. This is the Volunteers in Action program, created in 2016, and which continues to this day carrying out campaigns and actions aimed at projects focused on children, teenagers, the elderly, helping victims of natural events, among other activities.

One of these actions was promoted by Albras volunteers in December at Fazenda da Esperança, in Abaetetuba, which welcomes socially vulnerable women, often accompanied by young children or even pregnant women, generally coming from other municipalities within and outside the State. Albras volunteers developed several support actions throughout 2023 for these women, including the rehabilitation of the Farm's vegetable garden.

The garden had been in existence for a few years but had not been maintained. In 2023, it was completely revitalized with the help of the volunteer committee, which offered training for some women from the Farm to maintain the garden, in partnership with the Peabiru Institute. This revitalization included the complete cleaning of the space, creation of a greenhouse for planting vegetables, with all the necessary structure, planting of seedlings, among other improvements. “The garden today is a dream come true; it is great therapy within the Farm. Thank you very much for opening a space for them to touch the soil of hope”, said Ivanilda Carvalho, one of those responsible for the place.

“This investment made by the company, with the support of volunteers, was very important in offering an improvement to the lives of these women who shelter on the Farm. This garden is for personal consumption, but nothing prevents it from being used to generate income that helps maintain the Farm's activities. Currently, around 50 people live in the space, most of them women and children”, reports Danila Vulcão, an engineer at Albras and one of the participants in the volunteer committee.

Furthermore, the committee made it possible, together with the organization of the Gastronomy of Tomorrow project, sponsored by Albras, to hold a kitchen and market workshop to train these women. Another action was the revitalization of the football field, through donations that made it possible to purchase new materials, such as a volleyball net and rods, to encourage the practice of sports among local women and children.

Gynecological exams (preventive) were also offered with tests to detect sexually transmitted diseases, through the support of the Albras medical team, in partnership with UBS in Vila do Conde. “Because they are isolated, these women do not have access to this type of women’s health care”, reports Danila.

Sustainable actions - For 2024, the committee intends to continue with actions to support Fazenda da Esperança. And, to this end, they are attracting new partners for the work, such as Atlas Renewable Energy, responsible for installing solar panels on site in order to meet all of the institution's energy needs with clean and renewable energy. This is a very relevant action for the Treasury, as electricity costs are identified as the main difficulty in the search for financial sustainability. The creation of an industrial kitchen is also planned to facilitate the production of meals for the 50 people sheltered at the Farm. “Who knows, with this industrial kitchen structure, plus the training they received from Gastronomia do Ajante, it will be possible to sell meals? This would help a lot with the budget”, says Danila.

“Our expectation is to encourage more people and make this support network larger. It is very important to expand reach. The committee takes on this role of increasingly prospecting partnerships, of being together with the communities. Understand the needs of communities and see where and how to support them”, concludes Danila. For Ângela Maria, responsible for the Farm, “the presence of volunteers changed our face, we have initiatives that recognize our work and recognize that there are people who need help, the gratitude is great”, he concluded.

Atlas Renewable Energy also provided a year of consultancy with Mandu Inovações Sociais to develop institutional strengthening actions for the Treasury, offering training in administrative and financial management, creation of business units, training for fundraising and organizational development that contribute to consolidating and maximizing all the actions carried out by Albras and other partners. Since 2021, the Albras volunteer program has been working at Fazenda da Esperança, in projects to collect hygiene kits, milk and basic food baskets, craft workshops, women's health campaigns, among others. Between this and other actions, more than 200 volunteers were engaged throughout 2023 and around 3000 hours were dedicated by these volunteers.