June 2009
For over 50 years R.J. McCarthy has been committed to providing high quality school uniforms and related products to Canadian families. We understand that by being the leader in school uniforms in Canada, we must also take the lead in social responsibility. As our customers are those who will be inheriting the world of tomorrow, we must be a company that looks to the future with a respect and understanding of how we impact this world, the environment and our own local communities.Our top management team and the Board of Directors of the Company have recently taken a decision to reexamine everything our company is doing in order to see how we can become one of Canada’s leading companies in sustainable practices. We recognize that this is not an overnight process—reaching our goals will take a concerted effort over many years but we are absolutely committed to this goal. Social responsibility is now, more than ever, the “north star” that will guide our company’s direction going forward.
Recently, R.J. McCarthy developed a comprehensive 4-part framework to help achieve our mission of creating the world’s highest quality school uniforms in a socially responsible way.
The R.J. McCarthy Social Responsibility Framework:
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Social responsibility is a path, not a final destination. There will always be more we can do, and we will always be looking for that next step to bring us closer to our goal.
At McCarthy’s we are proud of the steps that we’ve taken so far, but we are truly excited at the new and more aggressive steps that we are planning around social responsibility in every part of our business. We believe that doing this is an essential part of driving towards our mission of creating the world’s highest quality school uniforms in a socially responsible way.
We are planning, in the not too distant future, to start a student dialogue panel on social responsibility to better engage on this issue the young people who make up our customer base. Students are quite often the loudest and the most vocal agents of change and we recognize the importance of listening to what they have to say. Their input will help to keep us on track and in the loop to what aspects of social responsibility matter most to today’s young people. Stay tuned to our website for more updates on this project.
We would value hearing your input and your direct feedback on our new mission, our new focus on sustainability, and our new 4-part social responsibility framework. Please email your comments to sustainability@rjmccarthy.com
