GrandWest staff got involved with the Rise Against Hunger packing effort as part of Mandela Day and donated R218 880 to Rise Against Hunger on Friday 14 July.
Rise Against Hunger coordinates the packaging and distribution of non-perishable food throughout the year, but Mandela Day is an important day for them. Many companies use this event to do their 67 minutes for Mandela. They donate a given amount for the cost of the food and then send staff to help package it.
Several schools also assisted with the packing: Valhalla High, Elswood High, Bellville South High, Excelsior High, AZ Berman High and Beacon Hill High. 15 Learners from each school have been invited to participate in the meal packing activation.
Grow a global movement
Dayne Myles, regional manager of Rise Against Hunger, said that their mission is to grow a global movement to end hunger. Mandela’s vision of making every day a Mandela, or volunteering, day is very much aligned with this mission, which is to get people actively involved in serving however they can, even if for only 67 minutes.
“It has been a specifically impactful day for our organisation as throughout the month, corporate South Africa has taken up the challenge to get involved – as a result, we pack more meals in July than any other month, with 500 000 being packed in the Western Cape alone,” Myles said.
The packed meals go to early childhood development (ECD) centres as part of their ECD Connect programme.
“Our ECD connect programme empowers ECDs with a daily meal but also assists them on the road to becoming government-compliant and therefore fully registered entities. In this way, we try to ensure that as many children under the age of six as possible are off the street in a place of education, whilst receiving a daily nutritiously balanced meal,” Myles said.
Myles added that GrandWest’s donation and ongoing support of Rise Against Hunger is mind-blowing.
“They have not only given us a venue large enough to accommodate the over 1 000 people packing with us but have bent over backwards to accommodate and assist us however they are able within their resources.
Myles added that GrandWest’s staff planned to pack almost 50 000 meals on Mandela Day.
