We co-hosted an Earth Day cleanup and cook out with the Boys & Girls Club of Albany, as well as Albany Housing Authority. They met up outside of Ezra Prentice homes and helped cleaned up the nearby playground. Children also potted and planted flowers. Alltown Fresh, which is a subsidiary of Global Partners, brought their mobile oven and made pizza on site as an extra incentive.
At 3 p.m. this Thursday, April 22, we’ll be co-hosting an Earth Day community cleanup and cookout with music and conversation at Ezra Prentice Homes, 625 South Pearl Street in Albany. We are sponsoring this event with our partner, the Boys & Girls Club of Albany, as well as Albany Housing Authority. Public health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will be in place for this event.
Partnering with the Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Area
Ezra Prentice Programs, photos courtesy of the Boys & Girls Club of Albany
This past year, we’ve seen firsthand the tremendous impact of nonprofits and community-based organizations. At Global, we’ve grown our work with the Boys & Girls Club of Albany. Here are just a few areas we’re proud to support.
Helping Start the Ezra Prentice Programs. The Boys & Girls Club has built programs to provide after school support, teen-focused courses, and virtual-learning support at Ezra Prentice. We love how the Club comes into the community, serving kids and families in a hyper-local manner. We’re proud to have helped on the team that started these programs, and we will continue to support them. Global also supported other programs like Friday Teen Night, summer and fall scholastic basketball programs and the Club STEAM initiatives.
Ongoing Support for Food Programs. We know there is an ongoing need for fresh and healthy food. We appreciate the Club’s work to provide meals to the community. We help support that work through donations and via meal delivery, which we provide from our Alltown Fresh® convenience market in Schenectady, New York.
Joining the Board. After years of working as a volunteer, Global Community Liaison Mark Bobb-Semple has joined the board of the Boys & Girls Club. He brings his background in community engagement and passion for building youth programs to the board.
In addition to our work with the Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Area, we are pleased to partner with Giffen Memorial Elementary School, supporting their community school advisory board.
We are also supporting the street outreach organization, Just Be Ready with their “Grab and Go” meal delivery program to neighbors in Albany’s south and north end. Global employees are continuing their volunteer work with the Lark Street Business Improvement District to help with the beautification of Lark Street.
Finally, Global is sponsoring the Ujamaa Market, a market where predominantly Black-owned small businesses sell artisan goods. Community engagement is a core value for Global, and we’re pleased to support these initiatives.
Permit Renewal Updates
Our permit renewal modification continues to work its way through the process, and we are in regular correspondence with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. You can read our application and learn more on our website. There will be opportunities to engage in the future, and we’ll be sure to let you know well in advance.
Please reach out with any questions you have. We hope to talk with you soon.
Painting Our Tanks in Response to Community Feedback
As part of routine maintenance of the Albany terminal, we paint our tanks every 8 to 10 years. Ongoing investments in the terminal is something we consider essential, and core to the safety of our operations.
A few years ago, community members asked questions about the color of our tanks. Four tanks were blue and the rest of the tanks are white. Some community members requested that we paint all the tanks white.
We committed to accelerating our painting schedule to respond to this community request, and now we have painted two of our tanks white. The remaining two tanks will be painted next year.
“Global Partners has listened and responded to community concerns. They are demonstrating what it means to be a good neighbor to the South End,” said Chairman Andrew Joyce, Albany County Legislature.
Virtual Engagement On Our Permit Renewal Modification
We also continue outreach around our permit renewal modification. Because of COVID-19, this outreach is happening through virtual channels.
We have created a video explaining the proposed changes to the permit, which you can view below:
We also hosted and taped two virtual public meetings, which you can view here.
Our permit modifications reflect years of community input. In addition to reducing crude oil by over 75% and substantially increasing biodiesel (a renewable fuel derived from plant and animal oils), we would also install enhanced controls to more effectively treat emissions from loading operations.
In the coming months, there will be more opportunities to weigh in on the process with the New York DEC. If you have questions, you can also contact us directly. We look forwarding to hearing from you.
“I encourage everyone to participate in this process. Global Partners has shown a commitment to not only consider different points of view, but also, to address concerns,” said Hon. Carolyn Mclaughlin, Albany County Legislator, District 1.
A Growing Partnership With the Boys & Girls Club and Other Community Partners
For several years, we have partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Area, supporting after school and teen programs that serve youth in Albany especially in the South End.
In recent months, as so many in our community have struggled through the impacts of COVID-19, we’ve deepened that work. In addition to supporting the meal “Drop & Go” programs and afternoon COVID-19-safe school activities like Basketball workouts, Virtual Dance Classes and Lyricism 101, we’re working to convene groups together to solve problems and deliver services to the Albany community. We also help leverage funding and advocated to save and adapt the local summer programs and Summer Youth Employment and Teen Internship programs.
This work is led by Mark Bobb-Semple, and the Boys & Girls Club CEO had this to say about the partnership:
“Using his passion for youth development and years of experience as a community advocate, Mark Bobb-Semple and Global Partners have been instrumental in helping the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area fulfill its mission and vision.
From helping to understand and transform community need into meaningful programming opportunities, to assisting with Resource Development in identifying and implementing new fundraising strategies, Mark continues to sow the seeds of sustainability so we can continue to serve this community for years to come,” said Justin Reuter, CEO Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Area.
We’ve facilitated connections with Just Be Ready to help with meal prep and delivery. And with Elevate 518, to hear from new voices of female leadership.
The challenges of this moment require a collective approach to solving problems. As a business, that is what we do best. As a community partner, we can apply those same skills to do our small part, and encourage others to do the same.
Global had planned to start an internship program this past summer, which was delayed due to COVID-19. We are committed to start an internship program for students as soon as it is safe to do so.
In the spirit of supporting local businesses, Global Partners LP joined two other organizations to stage an outdoor holiday market on Albany’s famed Lark Street. Read more in the Times Union article here.
Global hosted the market, held on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28, with the Lark Street Business Improvement District and The Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Area. Dozens of retail shops and vendors set up outside for the market, which drew crowds of shoppers for specials, sales, holiday music and other festivities.
As part of its involvement, Global sponsored a #ShopSmall scavenger hunt. The first 20 shoppers to complete it were given a $25 gift card to a local business on Lark Street.
The market was Global’s most recent involvement with the Lark Street Business Improvement District and the latest example of the company’s support of local small businesses.
In 2017, Global donated $6,000 to support the relief efforts in the Lark Street/Center Square neighborhood after a fire damaged multiple properties there. It also donated $3,000 to LSBID for neighborhood beautification in 2018, and company employees have regularly volunteered to help keep the neighborhood clean and attractive, including watering the hanging flower pots that line Lark Street.
At gas stations, convenience stores and fuel terminals throughout the Northeast, thousands of employees of Global Partners LP have been helping people get the goods, food, and fuel they need throughout the COVID-19 crisis. It is essential work that is keeping communities up and running.
Global was looking for a creative and personal way to thank these employees for their service. The answer? Creating more than 3,000 handcrafted family meals and provision boxes for its frontline employees.
“We were thinking, ‘How is it that we can take care of all of those associates and terminal operators that have been on the frontline since the start of the whole COVID crisis?’” said Eric Slifka, Global Partners’ CEO. “It’s really about finding ways to make a difference and delivering that difference to everybody that we work with.”
The meals come in addition to a $2-per-hour raises and monthly gift cards that Global began offering to retail associates in March. Combined, all of the efforts aim to express the company’s gratitude for the employees who are helping Global help the community.
“I just want to thank everybody who comes out and goes to work every day and really delivers to the community that they’re serving,” Slifka said, “because without you, we wouldn’t be able to help those in need.”
