RMI supports Tyres of Hope for young students

Tyres of Hope, an exciting new expansion of the Thirst for Hope initiative, a programme that both educates and feeds underprivileged youth within their schools, recently partnered with TEPA (Tyre Equipment Parts Association) to pilot a new programme for young students.
TEPA is an association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI),
The Tyres of Hope programme empowers young students to grow healthy produce, specifically potatoes and leafy greens, within their own homes or at their schools for consumption within their family environment.
According to Josh Gavronsky, who heads up the programme, this is achieved through using recycled tyres and other material.
“We believe we will literally be able to feed thousands of people through this initiative and are also affecting a positive change in the environment by recycling tyres
which have a potentially harmful and negative impact on both the environment and people,” he said.
“We are grateful to TEPA and the RMI for their partnership with the tyre provision for the initial pilot project which we have just rolled out at a community school in northern Johannesburg and would welcome future partnerships,” says Gavronsky.
The underprivileged community school selected for the pilot has been a partner of the Thirst for Hope project for a number of years and the focus for this pilot, was the Grade 10 year consisting of 300 learners.
Gavronsky said after undergoing a thorough educational programme on water sustainability and recycling, the learners planted and created an environment of hope within their reality. This project, which has proven to be a great success, allowed the students to recycle within their environment, using tools to practice water conservation and smart planting.
Sustainability is a critical aspect of all these initiatives and central to the project ethos.
“We are careful to only use recycled goods (upcycled bottles) or goods that cannot be recycled easily like tyres, to provide the critical resources for the project. Water is also used sparingly with our unique bottle drip approach and we provide the learners with good quality seedlings and soil through our various partners,” he says.
“We only work with partners who provide a sense of leadership and accountability for the project themselves. This allows us to educate, uplift and work together with partners in achieving our aims and making a lasting impact.”
Through Thirst for Hope and the Tyres for Hope programme, Gavronsky and his team aim to feed a million children and their families countrywide. As the project is run by a public benefit organisation and NPO with Section 18A Status, donations or support are tax exempt in South Africa.
The Thirst For Hope project has been running for close to five years impacting thousands of school learners, their families and communities.
About Thirst for Hope
Thirst for Hope trains the teachers, creates syllabi and ensures that the learners participate in environmental education, water conservation, food security, sustainable energy solutions and the promotion of healthy living.
In addition to this education, learners work in the food gardens. Thirst for Hope plants with them and thus become the farmers and harvesters – feeding those most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Where needed, Thirst for Hope provides corporate sponsorship to enable access to both potable water and set up grey water systems to ensure the schools have sanitation, and where there is no access to energy, it implements solar energy solutions.
Further, it provides mentorship and partnerships which allow learners to access funding to university education and then brings the graduates back into their communities as mentors.
A major focus is sustainability, from the model of the system which ensures that the school system reaches a sustainable cycle of education and food production to the recycling programmes it runs to raise soil standards and remove plastic waste and recyclable rubber.