Local company comes to poor families’ rescue

In efforts to alleviate hunger among families in the poorest communities, Crossmoor Transport Boksburg has taken it upon itself to reach out to the needy residents of Reiger Park and Wattville.

In partnership with the City of Ekurhuleni, the logistics company based in Anderbolt recently visited the townships and handed out 50 food parcels in Reiger Park, and an additional 50 food parcels on the same day in Wattville at the Methodist Church.

Speaking during the handover at the Harambee Community Centre in Reiger Park, the company’s Devi Pillay said this kind gesture was part of the company’s commitment to giving back to communities.

“As a business, we fully understand the difficult socio-economic conditions vulnerable families are facing in the communities around us. It has been made worse by the pandemic.

“We are not only assisting here (in Johannesburg), but as part of our community-based response to the crisis, we have supported many families with food hampers of essential goods and groceries in other regions, including Durban

“I also like to pray from the bottom of my heart that we manage to continue blessing these affected communities. It’s not only you guys, we are all affected by this situation at the moment. I just want to say whatever you are going through just remember that God is there to listen to you,” said Pillay.

The Reiger Park Community Forum spokesperson David Forster thanked the donors on behalf of his community for their support.He said the kindness would go a long way towards improving the lives of many vulnerable families.

The event was graced by Community Safety MMC Frans Mooko, who on behalf of the City of Ekurhuleni applauded and commended Crossmoor for its act of kindness.

“I was excited when Crossmoor approached us and said they wanted to do something for our vulnerable communities, and invited us to be part of the handover.

“When all this issues of Covid-19 started to hit all of us, as the City of Ekurhuleni we sat down and said what response mechanism can we have to assist our vulnerable people, and we came up with a plan to mobilise businesses, NGOs and other organisations to work together with us to help.

“This initiative led to the birth of a food bank in Springs, which has fed thousands of hungry families.

“Just because the food bank is now closed, the relief cannot be closed in its nature. We will not begin to say let’s close our heart, lets close Ubuntu. We will continue to interact like we are doing with Crossmoor to say let’s work together to provide relief to the devastated families.

“We are also doing this as we are concluding a very significant and important month, the July month which is the month of uTata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. We must continue his legacy and ideals that each and little thing that we have we must share, and we must share with the needy. I’m sure if uTata was still living among us, he was going to be excited that we still reach out to children, we still reach out to elderly people, we still reach out to the poor, fulfilling his ideals.

“We really want to say to you (the beneficiaries) in the midst of all the victimisation and the crime against women, there are still good people who want to take care of you. And we are here to say let’s pray and kneel down every day to ask God to preserve the good people like Crossmoor. God must actually preserve all of us who are still doing good in our communities, and these kinds of endeavour or initiatives must actually multiply.

“You might be 50 here but this food is going to feed more people as we are four or five in our own families. On behalf of the city thank you very much,” said Mooko.

Heeding the call-to-action of Ubuntu during this pandemic

The consequences of Covid-19 have had a debilitating effect on South Africa’s vulnerable population, and are expected to continue to have such effects as the economy continues to decline.

These negative impact include, job losses and food shortages to many families who are struggling to make ends meet while the invisible virus inclines.However, local businesses likes Crossmoor and other organisations, have decided to heed the call to work with government in ensuring that the most affected are taken care of during these hard times.

According to Keshia Patchiappen, spokesperson for Crossmoor Transport, the company has decided to lend a helping hand to alleviate the financial burden on indigent families living within the vicinity of its operation.

“During these hard times, it is vital for corporate to knit well-functioning relationships with the municipalities in which they operate to figure out a way to assist the hardest hit by this crisis and leverage existing community initiatives to alleviate the financial crisis faced by local governments as well.

“As a company driven by changing lives in communities, we believe if we serve our people well and take care of them, they will take care of us too. Izandla ziyagezana and the onus is on companies like ours who can start to act, and make a difference in our communities,” concluded Patchiappen.

Also Read: Ekurhuleni food bank shuts its door

Also Read: Reiger Park community leader keeps Mandela’s legacy alive

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