In 2023, Covia team members collectively spent over 12,500 volunteer hours in their communities working for causes they love. One international corporation in Independence is advancing local grassroots causes in communities where it does business in the U.S. and abroad. Covia, a leading provider of mineral solutions for many industrial blue-chip customers, is helping its team members to support causes that are important to them through its charitable arm, the Covia Foundation.
Though not a household name, Covia provides materials for industries like glass, ceramics, coatings, metals, foundry, polymers, construction, water filtration, sports and recreation and oil and gas. In 2023 alone, its foundation contributed over $1.1 million to local communities, and much of the foundation’s charitable work is driven by employees.
According to Kristin Lewis, manager of community relations, the foundation has a large footprint and a local focus. It is not unusual for an employee to raise funds for a favorite cause and personally hand deliver it to the charity.
“Our team members might raise money for a food bank and then walk the check down to the charity and present it to them directly,” she explains.
All these efforts really add up. Lewis says that in 2023, Covia team members collectively spent over 12,500 volunteer hours in their communities working for causes they love. The foundation offers its employees a wide spectrum of giving options and incentives to engage them in the process — from 1:1 matching gifts up to $1,000 to providing 24 hours of paid volunteer time annually.
Employees who volunteer in their communities can also earn grant funding. For example, a volunteer firefighter or Little League coach could receive a $500 grant to the charity of their choice up to twice a year for every 40 hours of personal volunteer time, and an additional $100 for every 20 hours.
Lewis says another great asset of the foundation is the ability to mobilize Covia employees through its Covia Cares Action Days. These volunteer days allow each facility to plan unique volunteer activities to give back to the community. The program has grown quickly since inception, and in 2023 there were 34 action days.
“We give money to our local plants and let them use it for what is important in their own communities,” says Lewis. “They take the lead on what is best for them.”
In Greater Cleveland, the Independence office spent its Covia Cares Action Day last year working alongside LAND Studio, beautifying Covia’s City Side Garden and Irishtown Bend in the Flats. Others helped at Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, collecting and donating more than 200 books. At the Wisconsin plant in the winter, not surprisingly, a coat drive was the local cause of choice.
With facilities in Canada, Mexico and Denmark, Covia’s plants abroad are very active with the foundation, as well. In Mexico, for example, Lewis explains that team members prioritized volunteer work for local schools, clean water initiatives, entrepreneurship support and community empowerment.
In addition, the Covia Foundation hosts two major golf fundraisers in the Greater Cleveland area every year. The annual Stars, Stripes & Links golf outing supports and engages injured combat veterans, and the Bill Conway Founders Charity Golf Classic has raised more than $2 million for the United Way since 2007.
