Social Responsibility A Matter Of Course At Doubleday

Embracing social responsibility is clearly a matter of course at Doubleday Australia, a Direct Group subsidiary. The Australian book club teamed up with the Royal Australian Navy to rush more than 200 schoolbooks and children’s books to a convent in neighboring, East Timor, which has become a sanctuary and home for about 500 children.

The whole operation was arranged practically overnight. From the moment the nuns at the convent sent a request for help through Lieutenant Commander Wong of the Australian Navy, there was no time to be lost. First, there was the logistical challenge of quickly transporting the urgently needed shipment of books to the port of Darwin, where Lieutenant Wong and his crew awaited on board the Australian Navy ship to bring the valuable cargo straight to East Timor, where they are being sent by the Australian government to help with rebuilding. Their mission includes supporting smaller communities in providing education and schooling for children, i.e. teaching them and promoting their reading, math and English skills. One of the things you need for this, naturally, is books. 

No sooner said than done: Doubleday employees from various different departments got to work. Five large boxes were packed in record time, to be finished before the ship set sail: books, games, writing and drawing utensils. The spontaneous operation was coordinated with the help of Trevor Lang at Variety, a charity that has collaborated for years with both the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian book club on organizing the annual "Bashes" for charity. Thanks to the dedication of everyone involved, Lieutenant Commander Wong is now on his way to East Timor with the boxes of books from the club – which is why he won’t be attending this year’s "Bashes" at the end of July.

"We’re very pleased that Doubleday was able to help with this project," said Doubleday’s John Cole. Of course the Doubleday folks didn’t have to think twice once "Bashes comrade-in-arms" Wong had described the situation in East Timor and asked for their help. Each night, between 4,000 and 5,000 people seek refuge in the convent in East Timor, half of them children. During the day, an average 500 children of all ages need to be taken care of and receive schooling – a task that the nuns cannot hope to cope with without outside support and the necessary educational materials.