This Mandela Day a total of 1 404 adults and children gathered at the Market Hall in GrandWest, to devote 67 minutes of their time to pack meals in honour of the late Nelson Mandela.
The adult volunteers included staff from NPO Rise Against Hunger (RAH), GrandWest and other businesses who work alongside 42 learners and three educators from De Waveren, Northway and Pinedene Primary schools. The initiative forms part of RAH’s ongoing campaign to pack and distribute meal boxes to those in need. Each meal is planned to deliver optimal nutrition to children. The bags are packed with highly nutritious dehydrated meals consisting of rice, soya, soup mix and a vitamin sachet containing 23 essential vitamins and minerals.
GrandWest’s General Manager, Mervyn Naidoo, said: “I am proud to stand in a production line alongside our staff to pack food every year because I know that every sealed food pack has a child’s face on it. To that child, each pack is a precious gift of life. We are here to honour Madiba’s life, but we are also here to make a tangible difference for so many young South Africans who are dependent on just one meal a day to stay alive. When our shifts are over our 270 staff volunteers will know that we have helped over 1 086 vulnerable children.”
De Waveren Primary School
According to De Waveren Primary School’s principal, Eduard Hattingh, the school has a good relationship with GrandWest. “When they came to us regarding this event, we jumped at the opportunity to give our learners a chance to give back to the community,” says Hattingh.
“At De Waveren we have four core values: Respect, Integrity, Caring and Honesty – RICH. Therefore when the opportunity came for our learners to show that they care, they grabbed it with enthusiasm,” adds the principal.
