PDL is proud to support the Cayman community, and we recognize the importance of eating a healthy breakfast every morning. Sadly, many children in the Caribbean go to school without receiving this essential first meal of the day. To help make a difference, PDL launched the annual Give-a-Kid-Breakfast campaign in September 2016 in association with Quaker Oats and Tropicana.
Each year during September (back-to-school), Foster’s supermarkets host the 3-week Give-a-Kid-Breakfast campaign. To enter, shoppers must purchase any two Quaker Oats or Tropicana products, which enters them into the draw to win an Apple MacBook for themselves. The winner also gets to pick an entire school to win a free breakfast and $1,500 towards school equipment.
Once the winning school is chosen, it’s a major highlight for our team to head out to the school for the morning and hand out nutritious Quaker Oats, Quaker chewy granola bars, and vitamin-C packed Tropicana orange juices to each child. A monetary prize to the value of $1,500 is also awarded to the faculty, which will go towards new school or sports equipment.
Over the years, the initiative has gathered great momentum, which PDL will continue to build upon to create more awareness that some children still attend school without receiving their most important meal of the day.
The business in action program is a work-based learning program that has been running at PDL since 2004.
Each semester three students from The University College Of The Cayman Islands (UCCI) spend two weeks each in seven different areas of the company. The managers from each of these areas, Finance, Human Resources, Sales, Marketing, Operations, I.T., and Purchasing, produce written learning material presented to the student and further discussed using practical examples the student can identify in the working environment.
At the end of their learning experience, the students are required to write an accredited exam on what they have learned and present to their peers and examiners the aims and key functions of each of their four chosen departments. A comprehensive understanding of the implications of doing business in the Cayman Islands is discussed in detail. The program is designed to allow the students to get out of a theory-intensity classroom environment and enter into a practical rich experience. Engagement with real-life situations and people can help prepare them for what lies ahead in the authentic working world.
PDL's involvement with the Cayman Islands Cancer Society has stretched over many decades. The Foster family has a deep-rooted personal connection to hospice care and the CICS and, as a company, PDL has made it a priority to show our support to some of the biggest events organized annually by the Cancer Society, including the annual Cayman Islands Stride Against Cancer Walk and Flowers Sea Swim.
The Nationwide Stride Against Cancer is a fundraising event to benefit the Cayman Islands Cancer Society. PDL supports this event in conjunction with some of our legacy brands, which include Gatorade, Tropicana, Ocean Spray, Quaker Oats, Ocean Potion, and Crystal Geyser, all of who greatly contribute to the success of Stride every year. PDL is also responsible for sourcing and printing the infamous Stride t-shirts that participants and volunteers proudly wear for the event.
The Flowers Sea Swim is another one of Grand Cayman’s flagship charitable sporting events, each year hosting almost 1,000 registered swimmers. Participants vary in age from 8 to 80 years old and in skill from novices and first-timers to gold medal Olympians, all swimming the one-mile course to support local charitable initiatives. Together with Australian Gold Botanicals, PDL supports this event through the donation and education of the importance of sunscreen to swimmers, walkers, volunteers, and spectators as part of our continued support for the fight against cancer.
Every year the YMCA opens its doors to kids across the island, offering programs with comprehensive youth development activities focusing on character development to help improve social, emotional, and academic competencies. The programs offer parents a safe after-school environment for their children.
The YMCA works closely with the Ministry of Education and serves 1,600 kids from public schools across the Cayman Islands in their Extended After School Program, reaching those with the greatest needs.
The YMCA has a positive impact on our community and supports families in need under the leadership of Pastor Randy.
PDL is proud to be a founding sponsor of this inspiring charity and continue to support them annually.
PDL is actively involved in helping those in need. Over the last year, our team has come together on numerous occasions to help make a difference.
In 2019 PDL worked with Samaritan's Purse in the Bahamas with financial contributions to assist those most affected by Hurricane Dorian. Samaritan's Purse had over 80 staff members on the ground in the Bahamas, and they had aircraft making multiple flights to deliver emergency supplies. They also set up an emergency field hospital in Freeport, Grand Bahama, where they treated up to 100 patients per day.
In November 2020, Typhoon Vamco left large parts of the Northern Philippines submerged in floodwater, affecting millions of families. PDL worked with the OVP Relief Operation headed by the Office of the Philippines' vice president by donating funds that helped to provide essential items to those in need.
Also in November 2020, a mere two weeks after Cat 4 Hurricane Eta, Honduras was battered again by Cat 5 Hurricane Iota, known to be the worst natural disaster in the region's history. PDL teamed up with Hyde Shipping Corporation and Little Friends Foundation based in Honduras to collectively donate emergency food and supplies to feed those left homeless.