As r é n’s community continues to expand, we’re happy to share that French food services and facilities management company Sodexo has become our latest partner. This collaboration will give us access to many of the schools and corporate offices within Sodexo’s network, where we’ll be hosting regular pop-ups offering fun bites and playful merchandise, while spreading our message of love, inclusivity, and the need to support the disadvantaged and underprivileged.

“I know Jo used to study in Kellett School, and we know the school’s operations director Robert Irvine,” Sodexo’s General Manager and Territory Director Adrian Copeland explains. “Not long ago he sent me an email introducing us, and that’s how we became acquainted, and I got to know r é n. Jo wanted to do something with the school, and Robert and I thought it would be a good fit for Sodexo, so we began talking.

“You know, there’s a lot of organisations out there, and we all want to help each other out, but unfortunately, it’s just not possible to help everyone. So there’s the decision about which ones you’re able to help, and you want to make a difference, and it’s got to tick the right boxes. With r é n, it’s a relatively small organisation doing a lot of really wonderful things for these underprivileged and disadvantaged youths, and it really resonated with me and Sodexo.”

To work with a group as large as Sodexo is a huge milestone for r é n, not only because of how significant their footprint is, but also because of the lessons we can learn from each other through our collaboration.

“I can never pinpoint how many employees we have globally, but it’s anywhere between 420,000 to 460,000 employees, so we have a massive impact on what we’re doing but we’ve also got huge corporate social responsibility. Regionally, we have some flexibility and we’re able to implement things that we think are important. Talking to Jo, seeing how passionate she is about what she’s doing, and seeing how she’s trying to lobby larger businesses like us to provide assistance or just get on board with r é n – I think that’s where it is.

“And actually, it’s also a learning opportunity for us. r é n brings so much value both in terms of personality and creativity, and some of our employees don't necessarily have those same skills, so through these collaborations you learn so much more. Often there's a difference between a nice thing to do, and the right thing to do. But here, it’s both.”

Naturally, our partnership kicked off at Kellett School last month, and soon we’ll be at the Christian Alliance International School on Tuesday, May 20^th, and King George V School on Monday, May 26^th. All our pop-ups involve food and treats created and donated by our other partners and advocates, such as cookies from Patisserie Millefeuille for Kellett, pastries from chef Uwe Opocensky for CAIS, and snacks from Casa Cucina and chef Anthony Cheung for KGV. In the near future, Adrian also hopes to extend our reach from their many schools into their corporate partners. There’s plenty on the horizon.

“This is something we want to do with r é n on the long term,” Adrian explains. “Once we decided that we're going to do it, we want to follow through with it – and not just because it's painful to get new vendors on board. Firstly, it's because we don't want to be wasting anyone's time. We know r é n has finite resources, and we don't want to tie them up for two or three months doing something that's there's no longevity in. 

“And secondly, because I think it's just important. I think it's important for Sodexo to be able to help. The most important part is to help r é n generate funds, but it’s also about helping them spread their message, and it's even more important for the students to absorb that message. I don't think it can get any better than that.”

And for any other companies or people who might be considering supporting the cause, Adrian has the following words of advice and encouragement:

“I’m sure the government is really trying to help this demographic too, but like most things, there are always people that just slip through the safety net – often the most vulnerable. A lot of people need help, but the reality is like that Orwellian quote from Animal Farm: ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’ So if you really want to help those in need, just decide on it. Think about how you’re going to help, what you want to do, and just do it.”