Children from several schools in Diepsloot received an early Christmas gift in a bid to spread more joy this festive season.
This was all thanks to Steyn City in association with Auto & General which celebrated the fifth anniversary of its community care initiative, Delivering Happiness to Diepsloot, on 16 November.
According to Steyn City’s chief executive officer, Giuseppe Plumari, the project was initially conceptualised as a vehicle for providing support to children living in the township. “This initiative was important to us because we believe that we need to have an improving effect on those around us,” he explained.
“This is why the development has also launched initiatives like the Steyn City skills centre, an artists programme, and participates in Mandela Day activities.”
The initiative is said to have the potential to create real, sustainable change by increasing access to education through the annual donation of related items such as schoolbags and stationery.
Plumari added that this year, the schoolchildren were gifted schoolbags filled with stationery, sweets and toys. “These are no ordinary schoolbags, however, as each features a sewn-in poncho which is waterproof as well as light reflective, considering the difference this will make to the many schoolchildren who have to walk to school, no matter the weather.”
Plumari stated that a number of other items were included in the packs which was thanks to the generous sponsors of the campaign. Auto & General provided sponsorship of R600 000 which was spent on the schoolbags.
Present at the initiative was television and radio personality, Tbo Touch; television personality, Masego ‘Maps’ Maponyane; and Olympic swimmer, Roland Schoeman. New faces to the initiative were 947 radio presenter, Alex Caige; Kaya FM DJ Thomas Msengana and television presenter Lunga Shabalala.
Treger Brands subsidised the cost of soccer balls to be included in the bags and Kellogg’s provided 10 000 tubes of Pringles, while Broadacres Spar sponsored 10 000 fruit juices.
P3 Mining Services donated 10 000 packets of VitaSmart, a vitamin enriched energy cereal-based beverage requiring only water and milk, providing rapid restoration of energy to the schoolchildren. JCJ Sweets, a small family business based in the East Rand, displayed the true spirit of Ubuntu by providing sweets below cost.
