Every year, we ask our 70,000+ associates to consider nominating an exceptional colleague who is making a lasting impact on those around them, both at work and outside of work.

The Jeffrey Sherman Life-Changers Award program launched in 2016 and is named in honor of former BD EVP and General Counsel, Jeffrey Sherman, who passed away following a brave 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

The annual Life-Changers awards are one of our favorite traditions at BD – because these prestigious awards honor “the best of the best” within our organization. This year, we received 70 nominations from our employees around the world and awarded four winners.

Meet 2021 Jeffrey Sherman Life-Changers Award winner, Daniel Oliveira, a Production Manager for Disposables and Syringes (MDS) in Juiz de Fora, Brazil.

At the Juiz de Fora plant where Daniel works, he is known to make every member of his team feel valued and appreciated. He works hard to maintain a diverse work environment that is rooted in respect, kindness and positivity.

Daniel also leads his colleagues in team-based volunteer service efforts to improve their local community. Recently, Daniel and his team collected and donated more than 2,000 pounds of food to local families whose financial livelihoods have been upended by COVID-19. For this work, Daniel and his team were awarded another prestigious award through BD, The Becton Volunteer Impact Award.

Outside of BD, Daniel’s unparalleled compassion and generosity has had a life-changing impact on one local family in particular. In March of 2020, Daniel and his colleagues visited homes of local families, to gain a better understanding how the pandemic was impacting in their daily lives. They spoke with community members who were jobless and hungry, with no access to medicine, and living in conditions that were ripe for the spread of communicable disease. Daniel was particularly moved by the circumstances of Alice’s* family.

“Insects and rats were inside Alice’s home. They had no water, no light, a leaking roof and mold covered their walls,” recalled one of Daniel’s colleagues.

Alice’s family of 10, including 8 children, needed far more than the food that Daniel and his team of volunteers could provide. In order to survive, and to have a chance to thrive, Daniel knew that they needed a new, safe, healthy place to live.

Over the course of weeks and months, as Daniel worked feverishly to find a safer place for the family to live, heavy rains caused a flood that left the family them homeless. Daniel quickly came to their aid, securing a short-term hotel room to keep them safe. And just four days later, Daniel led a team of volunteers in moving the family into a safe, new rental home, which was fully furnished with donations (beds, tables, chairs, appliances, kitchen utensils and more).

Soon after, Daniel secured enough donations to purchase a new home and provide Alice’s family with the life-changing gift of home ownership. Daniel’s heartfelt commitment to this family didn’t stop there. He’s now working to connect the 8 children with schooling and helping Alice and her husband find jobs so they can build a resilient future on their own.

We at BD congratulate Daniel on this very special honor and thank him for his hard work. For more 2021 Life Changer Award stories like Daniel’s, visit the BD Blog.

*The name of the family has been changed.