Sun International heeds the call to Rise Against Hunger
“Each year, on July 18, we celebrate the birthday of a true South African icon and everything that he stood for by embracing his values and doing something to help make a change for good in the lives of those less fortunate.
Sun International joins hands with Rise Against Hunger to alleviate the plight of hungry children in underprivileged communities across South Africa to mark International Mandela Day on July 18.
Teams of volunteers will roll up their sleeves to pack food parcels at eight Sun International units, with the goal to pack 418 000 meals to feed over 59 000 pre-school children for a year.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Sun International has supported this worthy cause.
In the past three years, Sun International has helped pack over 5 million meals at its properties with the help of volunteers from local businesses.
This year, employees of Sun International and other corporate bodies will once again work in packing lines at the eight participating Sun International units.
The participating units include Time Square in Pretoria, GrandWest in Cape Town, Carnival City in Brakpan, The Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth, Sibaya in Durban, Meropa in Polokwane, the Wild Coast Sun in the Eastern Cape and Windmill in Bloemfontein.
Employees from Golden Valley in Worcester and The Table Bay in Cape Town will join the packing lines at GrandWest.
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Volunteers will pack enough meals to feed about 59 000 pre-school children three times a week for the school year.
The meals are highly nutritious and comprise of rice, soya, dehydrated vegetable mix and a fortification pack of 23 essential minerals and vitamins specifically formulated to combat malnutrition (complying with the Unicef standard).
The theme for this year’s meal packing drive is This is Possible.
Rise Against Hunger International recently launched a campaign to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a special focus on its second goal, which is Zero Hunger by the Year 2030.
In South Africa, millions of children go hungry every day, with hunger killing more people annually than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
In 2017, 6.8 million South Africans experienced hunger (Statistics SA: https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12135).
“Each year, on July 18, we celebrate the birthday of a true South African icon and everything that he stood for by embracing his values and doing something to help make a change for good in the lives of those less fortunate.
“This is the fourth year that Sun International will be part of this spirited food packing initiative with Rise Against Hunger.
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“We call on representatives from local businesses, government representatives and other like-minded stakeholders to join us for 67 minutes on Mandela Day when we will join hands to pack food parcels for the most vulnerable in our society – needy young children,” says Sun International group social economic development specialist Heidi Edison.
School feeding programmes can help prevent hunger, increase school enrolment, reduce absenteeism and improve learning outcomes.
“Mandela Day is dedicated to Nelson Mandela’s life and work and aims to inspire people to embrace the values he shared so that all of us can help change the world for the better. We feel privileged to be part of this meaningful Mandela Day initiative which has a tremendous and far-reaching impact across underprivileged communities,” says Edison.
For more information contact Azelle Evans on 082 851 0090 or at azelle@themailroom.co.za
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