Author: sHq_LoGiNz

Gurijala Sarath lives in Gopinenipalem where he grows 27 acres of chilis, cotton, and paddy. He signed up to grow chili for TEROVA in 2014 as the first farmer in TEROVA’s chili program and is still a proud supplier today. The most significant benefit for famers like Sarath is economic – they are paid as soon as the dried chilis are accepted and given market price plus a premium for implementing sustainable practices that are certified by Rainforest Alliance/UEBT. TEROVA’s prompt payment and annual purchase from the farmers helps them reinvest in their farms and support their families.

Sarath’s experience during the past 12 years is an example of how TEROVA works with farmers to promote economic stability. Sarath started with 5 acres of land and through training, incorporated regenerative farming practices such as cover crops. Other benefits include:

• Comprehensive Training: Farmers receive guidance to boost yields and ensure their crops meet export standards, unlocking access to better prices. Regenerative farming training includes integrated pest management (IPM) that uses colored sticky sheets on posts throughout the field to attract insect pests and trap them, helping the farmer know quickly when they have a pest issue and reducing the number of pests in a non-chemical way.
• Essential Materials: IPM tools, personal protective equipment (PPE), and drying nets are supplied to support safe and effective farming. Drying nets help the farmer reduce loss of chili during the drying process and prevent rocks or other foreign materials from being introduced into the crop.
• Reliable Storage and Transport: TEROVA manages logistics, including cold storage and quality testing, to maintain product integrity and maximize value.
• Prompt, Fair Payment: Farmers are paid on time—typically within 21 days—at market price plus a premium, with all transactions transparently documented.
• Ongoing Field Support: There are dedicated field teams visit every 10 days on average, monitoring crops, identifying pests, and offering agronomic advice.

Now, TEROVA is working closely with the Griffith Foods regenerative agriculture team to implement more regenerative practices into the farmer’s education program. The current regenerative practices include no and low-till, cover crops, and pesticide management, with farmers selecting which practices to implement based on their knowledge of the land and crops.

At the 2025 Terova farmer awards, Sarath won Best Sustainability Award, highlighting his success in the program. Terova’s model demonstrates that responsible sourcing can deliver value for everyone involved. By investing in farmer training, fair compensation, and community wellbeing, Terova not only ensures a reliable supply of high-quality spices but also fosters resilient, thriving agricultural communities.

View original content here.

About Griffith Foods

Griffith Foods is a global product development partner helping food companies meet the evolving needs of consumers with high-quality, culinary driven, customized products. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois, USA, Griffith Foods is a family-owned business known for collaborative innovation guided by its purpose to “Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World.” Operating in over 40 countries across six continents, Griffith Foods employs more than 5,000 people, including over 40 chefs and 340 food scientists, who work together to create solutions that nourish people, planet, and communities. The company’s product capabilities include seasonings, sauces, dressings, coating systems, and alternative protein solutions. Griffith Foods’ primary areas of focus include Foodservice, Food Manufacturers, Protein Processors, and Retail.

 

ROCK ISLAND, Ill., October 28, 2026 /3BL/ – Royal Neighbors of America, one of the nation’s fastest growing life insurance organizations¹ based in Rock Island, Ill., has proudly awarded 32 college scholarships to student members across the country as part of its longstanding commitment to provide Insurance with a Difference℠.

Each recipient received a scholarship in recognition of their academic achievement, leadership, volunteer service, and commitment to creating positive change in their communities. To be considered, applicants must be Royal Neighbors Beneficial Members.

“This experience taught me that service is about heart, empathy, and showing up for others. It inspires me every day to give selflessly and lead by example,” said Graci Tubbs, one of this year’s scholarship recipients who is completing her degree at Florida Atlantic University.

Applicants were selected through a competitive process that includes personal essays on leadership, community service, and a commitment to personal growth. The program emphasizes purpose-driven education and real-world impact, aligning with Royal Neighbors’ core mission.

“Our scholarship recipients represent the very best of what it means to be a Royal Neighbor. These are individuals who take action and make their communities stronger,” said Amy Jones, Senior Director of Social Impact at Royal Neighbors. “When we invest in their education, we’re not only helping them achieve their goals; we’re helping amplify the positive impact they will have for years to come.”

“Education opens doors, strengthens communities, and creates opportunities for future generations,” said Zarifa Reynolds, CEO and President of Royal Neighbors. “We are honored to invest in these remarkable students whose commitment to service reflects the values that have guided our organization for more than 130 years.”

2026 Royal Neighbors Scholarship Recipients

Name	Home State	Name	Home State
Colton Ashley	Iowa	Justin Lee	Texas
Jenna Becker	Nevada	Kammie Ludwig	Illinois
Peyton Boles	Missouri	Noah Martin*	Colorado
Isabella Chambers	South Carolina	Ronald McClary	South Carolina
Lydia Davis	Virginia	Gregory McCray	Georgia
Olivia Donahue	Iowa	Nicole Pate	New Jersey
Samiyah English	Florida	Emma Pearson	Iowa
Carmen Gaas	Texas	Ashley Pouliot	Minnesota
Scarlett Gonsalves	California	Evan Pouliot	Minnesota
Skylar Greene	Illinois	Jacob Rose	Wisconsin
Boston Hodges	Mississippi	Verlane Rubina	California
William Hodges	Mississippi	Olivia Schuld	Illinois
Evelyn Houston	Texas	Graci Tubbs	Florida
Yazard Jean Pierre	Florida	Randi Tubbs	Florida
Ani Johnson	Georgia	Abigail Williams	Colorado
Nina Kuzichev	Washington, DC	Dorothy Young	Pennsylvania

*Fourth generation Royal Neighbors Member

Scholarship funds may be applied toward tuition, room and board, textbooks, or other education-related expenses. To learn more about the Royal Neighbors Scholarship Program, visit: royalneighbors.org/scholarships.

About Royal Neighbors of America

In 1895, nine founding women created a membership community. They were one of the first to make life insurance accessible to women. Now, 131 years later, Royal Neighbors remains committed to its mission of Insuring Lives, Supporting Women, and Serving Communities℠. The organization’s members, chapters, employees, and its independent agents across the country drive this mission through localized volunteerism and philanthropic programs, making social impact the cornerstone of their work.

Royal Neighbors members experience Insurance with a Difference℠ through tailored life insurance and annuity products, opportunities to give back in their communities, and access to member benefits that support financial and personal well-being.

Royal Neighbors holds an “A” (Excellent) rating from AM Best² for financial strength and its ability to meet ongoing obligations to certificate holders. In 2025, Royal Neighbors received its ninth Great Place to Work certification. In 2026 Royal Neighbors was recognized by Forbes and Statista as a World’s Best Insurance Company. For more information, visit royalneighbors.org.

1. American National’s Exit, Benefit Ratio Shifts, Avoidable Mortality & PRT Rulings. Life Annuity Specialist News Brief; April 3, 2025
2. As of December 12, 2025, Royal Neighbors is rated A Excellent (3rd highest out of 13) by the AM Best Company for overall financial strength and ability to meet ongoing obligations to certificate holders. For the latest Best’s Credit Rating, access ambest.com.

Disclosure: Royal Neighbors of America® (NAIC #57657), licensed in all states and the District of Columbia, except AL, AK, HI, LA, MA, NH, NY. Membership and qualification required, products and contractual provisions and limitations may vary by state. Guarantees are based on the claims‑paying ability of Royal Neighbors of America. Not a deposit, intended to be held long-term. 

Royal Neighbors Media Contact:
Marie Young, Director, Marketing & Communications
Marie.Young@royalneighbors.org
Office Line: (309) 732-8280

3BL2026-0004 Rev. 10-2026

Summary
During the Pure Good Global Week of Service 2026, Everpure employees around the world helped support local communities through environment initiatives, workforce development, and hands-on volunteer service.

From September 28 through October 2, Everpure employees around the world joined the Pure Good Global Week of Service—an annual opportunity to turn our commitment to community impact into action.

This year, colleagues across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific participated in volunteer experiences designed around three areas of focus: environmental sustainability, workforce development, and community support. Together, they showed what is possible when people across locations and time zones make time to go do good.

Measuring the impact

This year’s Global Week of Service reached over 800 employees across 15 locations and generated 1,290 volunteer hours. Employees completed 28 volunteer activities, helping create or deliver thousands of meals to communities in need,  STEM enrichment kits and products to local youth, essential supply kits for migrant workers and unhoused communities, and much more in partnership with 23 nonprofit organizations around the world.

These numbers tell only part of the story. The deeper impact came from the collective energy behind them: colleagues making space in their schedules, local teams coordinating with community partners, and volunteers showing up ready to contribute.

A week of action across the globe

Global Week of Service offered a range of ways to participate, including in-person events, virtual opportunities, and self-paced projects. That flexibility helped employees take part from offices, home workspaces, and wherever they were located around the world.

Regional highlights

Americas

In the Americas, close to 400 employees volunteered across 7 locations, contributing 640 hours in support of 11 nonprofit organizations from Santa Clara, CA to Durham, NC. Their work addressed environmental sustainability, food security, STEM learning, workforce development, and community response. Notable activities included making seedballs to restore ecosystems in Santa Clara, assembling winter-warmth bundles for senior citizens in New York, and leading community clean-up projects in Lehi.

“Helping to improve my immediate surroundings with my team helps give me a sense of esprit de corps”

Everpure employee based in Lehi, UT

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

Across EMEA, over 150 employees participated in 7  events and contributed over 200 volunteer hours while supporting 6 nonprofit organizations serving communities in London, Prague, Rome, and Paris.  Regional activities focused on addressing food insecurity, workforce development, health, and community support. Highlights included packing food supplies in Paris and London, assembling path-following robots in Prague to teach children basic coding skills and supporting a building-wide blood drive in Rome. 

“Great bonding experience for all, and a real reminder of how lucky we are to live in homes with central heating that we can afford to turn on.” 

Everpure employee based in the UK

Asia-Pacific and Japan

In APJ, 260 employees contributed 400 hours to support 6 nonprofit organizations across 6 dynamic events. Teams combined community support, environmental learning, health, and STEM engagement. Singapore volunteers built smart-greenhouse kits to introduce local children to coding and sustainable growing practices; Bangalore volunteers packed meals for neighbors in need ; Japan hosted a nonprofit information session to help more employees get involved in the community; and Korea volunteers assembled DNA science kits for children.

“All of us came together. Unknown faces become friends… I’m happy to leave a reason when someone smiles at their food.” 

Everpure employee based in Bangalore

Virtual and self-paced

Virtual and self-paced opportunities engaged over 100 employees through events and projects, generating 100+  volunteer hours. In the Americas, remote volunteers reviewed camera-trap images along the Lewis and Clark Trail, helping researchers compare today’s wildlife with what the expedition recorded 200 years ago, while employees throughout EMEA identified alpine species in France’s Mont-Blanc massif to show how climate change is affecting mountain ecosystems. Globally, remote employees supported the next generation of talent, creating a STEM ebook for kids, designing career cards for young people, and reviewing resumes for women entering tech.

“Love that Everpure recognizes that employees, even those who work remotely, see the value of volunteer work and community engagement. Working for a company that contributes to the community in such an impactful way on a consistent basis makes me very proud.”

Everpure remote employee based in AMER

Continuing the commitment

Global Week of Service is one moment in our year-round commitment to making a positive difference. Through Pure Good, employees can continue to volunteer, give, and support causes that matter to them and their communities.

Thank you to everyone who participated, organized an event, partnered with a nonprofit,  encouraged a colleague to get involved, and especially to the nonprofit partners who welcomed us. Your time, care, and willingness to serve helped make Global Week of Service 2026 a meaningful expression of what we can accomplish together.

When we bring our people, purpose, and communities together, we do more than volunteer for a week—we help build a more connected and resilient world.

At Leidos Innovations U.K. Limited, environmental sustainability is increasingly connected to innovation, operational efficiency and smarter resource management.

The company’s 2025 U.K. Sustainability Report highlights a 32% reduction in reported carbon emissions since 2019, representing approximately 800 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. The reduction covers Scope 1, Scope 2 and selected Scope 3 emissions categories within the company’s U.K. Carbon Reduction Plan.

One example of this progress is the modernisation of the air conditioning system at  Leidos Innovations U.K. Limited’s Whiteley data centre. Following energy audits conducted under the U.K.’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), targeted equipment upgrades helped reduce the facility’s energy consumption by 37% in 2025 compared with 2024.

The report also highlights progress in electricity procurement. In 2025, 54% of electricity was procured directly from renewable sources. Including U.K. grid-mix attribution, renewable electricity represented 76% of electricity used across U.K. sites.

These achievements demonstrate how targeted investments, technical expertise and operational improvements can support measurable environmental progress.

Explore the  Leidos Innovations U.K. Limited 2025 Sustainability Report to learn more about these initiatives and their impact.

Las Vegas Sands

On August 13, Sands concluded its 2026 corporate internship program with a graduation event culminating the experience and recognizing student progress over the 11-week summer term. The program serves rising college juniors and seniors, as well as graduating seniors, and provides exposure to professional-service career tracks in the integrated resort business.

Over the summer, Sands hosted 15 participants in its Las Vegas and Dallas offices to work in departments that align with their degree programs. Students gained hands-on experience and insights from professionals in human resources, cybersecurity, corporate treasury, corporate tax, aviation, IT command center and IT software development.

During the graduation ceremony interns presented their final projects, which entailed creating recommendations for a theoretical AI Pod that would improve business operations or the guest experience at a Sands property. The group presented a formal proposal backed by market research and analysis, complementing the experience interns gained working with their department teams.

At the graduation event, a few interns reflected on their experiences:

Karla Warque
Rising senior, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Corporate tax intern

“One thing I really liked was just getting to know the whole tax team. Everyone is just so knowledgeable, and they have a depth of industry experience. They all worked for the most part in public accounting or consulting before coming here, and that’s something that interests me. It was nice to get advice from them and see their perspective and insight on things.

“Another thing I really liked about this internship was that I came in with a little bit of tax experience in a different area, and so I was really able to see another side of tax that I was never exposed to before – and it was something that interests me and something that I’ll be taking with me into my next internship.

“I really enjoyed the whole experience from start to finish; it’s been an amazing summer. I’ve met the best people. I got to do some really cool things and learn so much this summer.”

Mateo Guerrero
Rising junior, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Global cybersecurity intern

“Some of the highlights from this summer were meeting the different engineering teams. I had an interest in getting more experience in that field, so meeting with the strategy and automation teams was really fun.

“We also got a chance to meet some of the Marina Bay Sands and Sands China Team Members who came here for the cybersecurity conference, and that was really fun meeting them and seeing what kind of work culture and what kind of operations that they do.

“This summer I learned that within cybersecurity, AI is a very hot topic, and there’s this connotation that AI is going to take your job in the future. But, a lot of the operations here at Sands and just in general in cybersecurity are still very human-oriented. So it’s still a long way out from doing that, and I learned that AI is more of a tool than an ‘employee’ that can take that job.

“Coming into this internship, I didn’t have much experience in cybersecurity. I just did small projects and I take coursework. But, seeing it in a corporate environment and how it works on a professional scale was very eye-opening. Moving forward in my studies, I’ll definitely take what I learned here and hopefully enhance what I do in school.”

Michael White
Rising senior, West Virginia University
Sands Aviation intern

“I got many chances to see multiple different fields from the aviation hangar. I got to see how a complex organization comes together and what it takes to be successful, and other things such as how dispatch operates and how pilots operate the planes, and what they consider and take into account.

“I think one thing I learned how to do better is to be a team player. Being at the hangar I got to see a multitude of different sectors of what we do, and being able to find work in each of them and being able to contribute something. I think is something that I’ll take back with me.

“Everybody at Sands is extremely community-based. Everybody’s willing to help everybody succeed. You can just stop people in the hallway and talk to them for a couple minutes and learn really anything. I had such a phenomenal time here and can definitely see myself pursuing a career in aviation in the future.”

Sands’ corporate internship program is part of the company’s global workforce development initiative, which includes hands-on training and early-career development programs in integrated resort and hospitality operations, as well as professional-service career tracks that serve the industry.

The corporate internship program exposes students in a variety of fields to the opportunities and benefits of working in the hospitality industry and the dynamic integrated resort business.

To learn more about internship opportunities at Sands, visit: https://www.sands.com/company/careers/

To learn more about Sands’ priority on workforce development and hospitality education initiatives, read the company’s latest ESG report: https://www.sands.com/resources/reports/