Westgate Shopping Centre, in partnership with the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) Department of Social Development, hosted a donation drive in their centre and neighbouring communities to celebrate and honour International Nelson Mandela Day.
According to Westgate’s marketing officer Abigail Dlamini, they find it significant to try and make a difference in their communities with the help of customers and participating stores. They placed donation boxes in their centre so that any individual who wants to donate can drop them off in the boxes.
CoJ’s Department of Social Development contributed to making the initiative a success. Both parties managed to hand out 100 food parcels to less privileged customers and sponsor five customers with wheelchairs.
“The food parcels that we contribute were bought by the centre and other retailers for their precious customers and Jet Store donated many clothing items to help us with the initiative,” Abigail said.
The centre visited the Jwaleng Kiddies Preschool in Princess to donate food and clothes to less privileged children in the community. They also visited a 24-year-old establishment that helps homeless and unemployed individuals with food and shelter. They donated multiple items to provide humanitarian support to the community.
The centre provided their customers with breakfast through their weekly soup kitchen to gear them up for a productive day. “We encourage everyone who has items, which can be unperishable food, clothing or any equipment, to donate them to unprivileged individuals, rather than waste them. Remember that your trash can be someone’s treasure,” she added.
The centre encourages individuals to keep on donating by utilising the donation boxes.
