This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 29 March 2021.

Australia produces more food than it consumes but when the pandemic hit communities last year, many Australians became focused on stockpiling groceries to see them through the lockdowns.

Our big supermarkets came under pressure to supply essentials and ensure shoppers — especially older or vulnerable shoppers — had safe access to stores.

For Coles, the coronavirus was a time to step up. CEO Steve Cain said: “Since the COVID pandemic began, Coles has proudly embraced our role as an essential service to the community, guided by our purpose to sustainably feed all Australians and help them lead healthier and happier lives. Throughout every challenge, our values of working with passion, pace and responsibility to the community were at the heart of our decision-making.”

The company’s work has won it a place on the shortlist for the Business Council of Australia’s awards, The Biggies, which recognise people and companies that made a significant contribution to civic life last year. Coles is one of seven finalists in the Big Impact category. There are four individual finalists in the Big Heart category.

From mid-March last year, Coles began donating extra food and groceries to a retail value of $1m a week to food banks to help Australians facing hardship as a result of the coronavirus. Food relief organisations in turn distributed the food to up to 3800 community food programs across Australia.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 22 March 2021.

At the height of the black summer bushfires when much of Kangaroo Island was in flames, a handful of workers flew in with notepads and pencils in hand.

They weren’t firefighters, emergency services respondents or logistics experts, but a small group with access to a $70m fund established in the wake of the fires.

The Minderoo Foundation Fire Fund is an initiative of Andrew Forrest’s $2bn philanthropic organisation and “impact investor”, the Minderoo Foundation.

MF committed an initial $20m towards rebuilding communities ravaged by the fires and a further $50m to develop a blueprint for wildlife and disaster resilience.

Mr Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group also donated to the fund, first with $1.76m in funding and later supplying specialist employees to help deliver the rollout.

In a town-hall meeting on the evening the planning squad arrived, the idea for a temporary housing pod was sketched in a notepad. Within a month, Australian Portable Camps in Monarto, South Australia, had begun production.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 15 March 2021.

When fire tore through Mogo on NSW’s south coast last year, homes and businesses were reduced to ash and traders found themselves without a space to conduct their businesses.

Within weeks, structures and logistics company ATCO had erected a pop-up shopping mall, allowing small businesses to trade through the crisis.

ATCO’s donation of 13 modular buildings to the town earned it a place among the finalists in the Business Council of Australia’s awards, The Biggies. The awards recognise people and companies that made a significant contribution during 2020, with the winners to be announced next month.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 8 March 2021.

“I remember being in Coles on January 5, 2020, with very little power, no dairy, no meat, no frozen foods and very little in the way of pasta or tinned vegetables,” a Batemans Bay resident told the Business Council of Australia last week.

It was the height of the devastating bushfires.

“We came straight from the evacuation centre covered in ash and were so grateful that John (Appleby) and a few staff members were there so we could get some food.” The woman posted her thanks on the site dedicated to the BCA’s Biggies award for civic contributions — a site that has seen high levels of engagement since public voting for the “people’s choice” award opened last week.

The Biggies finalists — four individuals and seven companies — are profiled on the Biggies website, with the public invited to vote for their favourites.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 8 March 2021.

From extra volunteering to the development of a new food delivery model, consulting firm Accenture reached out beyond its client base to assist local communities impacted by bushfires and COVID last year.

The firm helped call centres and banking services to continue through the crises along with offering staff more opportunities to volunteer during their regular working hours.

“We see responsible business in three dimensions: being a responsible business ourselves, being responsible citizens and being responsible with our clients,” chief executive Bob Easton said. “In response to the events of this extraordinary year, we have adapted and innovated to keep our communities running.”

Accenture’s work in 2020 has won it a finalist’s place in the Business Council of Australia’s awards, The Biggies, which recognise people and companies that made a significant contribution to civic life last year. Accenture is one of seven finalists in the Big Impact category.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 1 March 2021.

When the coronavirus pandemic struck almost exactly 12 months ago, there was chaos in supermarkets across the country as people rushed to stockpile food.

Some commentators worried that the mayhem would damage the country’s social fabric as Australians stripped tins of tomatoes and packets of spaghetti from shelves, and videos emerged on social media of shoppers fighting over packets of toilet rolls.

Panic buying made supermarkets unsafe for some vulnerable Australians. People were fearful they would not have access to food and everyday needs.

Supermarket giant Woolworths snapped into action to manage the onslaught of people along with health and safety requirements.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 22 February 2021.

One of Australia’s most successful private sector bushfire relief initiatives, which assisted more than 500 small business owners, started with a round of drinks.

When fire tore through Kangaroo Valley, a community of 800 people on NSW’s south coast, local resident and EY partner Andi Csontos leapt into action. She posted an offer on the local community Facebook group to shout beers to the Rural Fire Service in the local pub. It started a chain reaction that led to the creation of a grassroots emergency response network, connecting neighbour to neighbour like never before.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 8 February 2021.

Last year as the coronavirus pandemic sparked fear among Australians, Melbourne-based emergency doctor Simon Doyle focused on the small things to try to establish a personal connection with his COVID-19 patients.

“I used to make small efforts to, you know, write my name on my gown,” the 31-year-old said.

This article first appeared in The Australian newspaper on Monday 1 February 2021.

On Kangaroo Island, the January night sky had turned a ghostly, unnerving burnt orange.

Kaytee Collins kept one eye on the sky and one on her computer as the emergency unfolded. One piece of advice, an odd rhyme, stuck in her head.