Deputy calls on knowledge workers to ‘Gift a Shift’ and provide meals to Sydney’s vulnerable workforce
In partnership with PlateitForward and Mirvac, ‘Gift A Shift’ calls on salaried workers to donate the equivalent of one day’s pay to vulnerable shift workers out of pocket and struggling due to Sydney’s lockdown.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - August 9, 2021 - Today, Deputy, the leading shift work platform, announces its ‘Gift A Shift’ campaign in partnership with PlateitForward and Mirvac to provide 100,000 meals to shift workers in the Greater Sydney community that are unable to work due to the current lockdown.
Many businesses rely on casual and migrant workers to operate. Currently, these business owners are unable to help shift workers financially because they are struggling to make ends meet themselves. The current lockdown in New South Wales is impacting people in many different ways, but for shift workers and vulnerable communities, this crisis means many are unable to put food on the table to feed their families.
Over the next month, Deputy is calling on knowledge workers and the tech community to ‘Gift A Shift,’ to help PlateitForward provide 100,000 meals to those in the Greater Sydney community that need them. All of these meals will be prepared in a recently closed restaurant space at Harbourside Shopping Centre, donated by Mirvac, another organisation coming together to support the great work PlateitForward does.
The harbourfront location at Harbourside serves as the perfect backdrop reflecting the values of PlateitForward that charity can be delivered through a premium experience (the restaurant quality meals) and there is nothing more iconic and prestigious than the views that Harbourside provides.
In the past month alone, Deputy has seen a 92% drop in shifts scheduled for retail workers across Greater Sydney - from hundreds of thousands of shifts to only seven thousand. It's a similar story within the hospitality sector with an 88% decline in scheduled shifts.
“At Deputy, we feel a strong sense of responsibility to assist the shift workers and families most seriously impacted by this current lockdown. These people are our baristas, shop assistants, hairdressers, chefs, cleaners, customer service staff - the essential workers that have kept our cities operating through the pandemic and we owe them this kindness as we rebuild.” - Ashik Ahmed, CEO, CTO & Co-founder, Deputy
"To us, this campaign is about more than food. It represents the connection between all of us, from tech companies to large property groups, working together to let customers know they are valued, they are seen and that we are thinking of them and providing them with something small, but meaningful to make things a bit easier."- Shaun Christie-David, CEO & Cofounder, PlateitForward
The partnership between PlateItForward and Mirvac started a year ago as a local program at Mirvac’s newest South Eveleigh precinct. Since then the South Eveleigh corporate tenants, ambassadors like Kylie Kwong and the PlateItForward team have been working collaboratively to continue the program weekly. This new home at Harbourside, gives the team access to its own fully-kitted out commercial kitchen, complete with larger restaurant space to more efficiently prep, cook, package and deliver greater quantities of meals, doubling production capacity from 1,000 meals a week to 2,000. It also provides a much more comfortable space to deliver on both of the organisation’s key projects.
Please join us over the next month to ‘Gift A Shift’ by donating the equivalent of one day's work so that shift workers and their families can receive wholesome chef-cooked meals during these uncertain times. To learn more about how you can get involved, please visit the GoFundMe fundraising page.
About PlateitForward
The PlateitForward Group has assembled with a simple mission, “To re-invent the definition of equal opportunity by providing food, education and employment opportunities to those most vulnerable in our local communities.” It is a multi-faceted, community-driven organisation providing food, cooking lessons, advanced kitchen training, qualifications, confidence and employment to Sydney’s disadvantaged community members. The movement comes directly from those with lived experience and it’s these community members we employ to be part of the collective team to solve social change.
About Deputy
Deputy is on a mission to Simplify Shift Work™. The company streamlines scheduling, timesheets, tasks, and communication for over 260,000 business owners and their workers, providing millions of shift workers with more flexibility and control over their schedules and employers more efficiency in their operations. Additionally, Deputy navigates state-by-state legislation calculating correct wages, entitlements, and penalties to keep businesses compliant and employees protected. To learn more about Deputy, visit www.deputy.com.
The following people are available to interview about this initiative:
Shaun Christie-David, CEO & Cofounder, PlateitForward
Ashik Ahmed, CEO & Cofounder, Deputy
Kelly Miller, GM of Retail, Mirvac
Tony Gardiner, Centre Manager, Mirvac
