Food franchise talks about its charity work

Through its Billboard in Midrand, KFC sparked conversation about the dire child hunger crisis in South Africa and the impact that customers make when adding their R2 donations to the food chain’s contribution to the Add Hope initiative.

The company’s corporate social investment manager Andra Nel said child hunger is a serious socio-economic crisis that affects millions of children, “The Add Hope Initiative is a collective effort by the company and customers to fight child hunger and malnutrition in SA. By donating just R2 every time they make an order, customers are changing the lives of underprivileged children as these donations help fund child feeding schemes across SA.”

Nel said since launching 12 years ago, the Add Hope Initiative has provided more than 221 000 000 meals and raised more than R811 million in funds. Proceeds raised through the initiative are distributed to over 140 non-profit organisations that provide nutritious meals to disadvantaged children.
She emphasised that child hunger and malnutrition have a significant impact on the development of children, hindering their ability to thrive. “Children who do not receive proper nutrition are at a high risk of experiencing stunting, which is impaired growth and development, that occurs as a result of malnutrition.

Children who experience stunting struggle to perform in school which can affect their economic prospects in the future, and they are also likely to fall sick and suffer from nutrition-related diseases.

According to United Nations Children’s Fund, chronic malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half the childhood deaths in SA and about 1.5 million children in SA are stunted.”