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Holiday Food Parcels

Holiday Food Parcels

Dec 12, 2022 | Corporate Social Responsibility

Every year the generous Affinity Group staff raise funds to provide food parcels to The Sprout Foundation beneficiary school.

This year, we managed to collect enough donations to provide each orphaned and vulnerable learner from the school with a food parcel to take home over the holiday period.

Guardians of the learners come to school to collect a bucket of non-perishable food items. The buckets contain items such as maize, samp, canned vegetables, pilchards, beans, soup and gravy powder.

Many of these learners are reliant on the complimentary meal that they receive at school during the term. Being able to send food home for the holiday periods, means that the learners can still be well nourished and fed during this time.

We are grateful to our Affinity family who always go the extra mile to help those in need.

#10000STRONG

Mandela Day

Mandela Day

Jul 1, 2022 | Corporate Social Responsibility

Mandela Day is celebrated annually on Nelson Mandela’s birthday (18 July). In honour of the 67 years that Nelson Mandela dedicated serving the country and striving for justice and equality in South Africa; people around the world are encouraged to spend 67 minutes of their day doing good and giving back to their communities.

This year for Mandela Day, the Affinity Group hosted a “volunteering station” where members of the Affinity Family could spend 67 minutes of their day giving back. On the day, the volunteers packed “buckets of hope” which contained food items such as soup, pasta, and rice. The volunteers also helped to cover donated books in plastic for the library at our beneficiary school, Isihlangusabasha Primary.

The buckets were then handed out to orphaned and vulnerable children to take to their caregivers to prepare meals for them and the books were stamped and added to the library which the #10000STRONG team launched at Isihlangusabasha Primary School earlier this year.

We have received wonderful feedback from the Mandela Day efforts, with one teacher even saying that he could never have dreamed that their school would have a library and now they have so many books that they will need to introduce a library system!

This encouraging news has prompted us to treat every day as Mandela Day and to give back whenever we have an opportunity to do so.

#10000STRONG

A Fresh Coat of Paint for Isihlangusabasha Primary School

A Fresh Coat of Paint for Isihlangusabasha Primary School

Jun 1, 2022 | Corporate Social Responsibility

During the June school holidays, volunteers from the Affinity Family gave up some of their time to head to Isihlangusabasha Primary School to repaint the interiors of their classrooms and school hall. Members from the surrounding community were employed to prepare the walls for the painting, which meant opportunity for income and empowerment was created in this project.

The volunteers worked extremely hard to make sure the school looked fresh and bright before the learners returned for the third term. A couple of creatives also volunteered their time to paint a mural in the Grade R classroom, which has created a colourful and stimulating environment for the young learners.

An exciting and bright environment has made it motivating for the learners to come to school and expectantly, in addition to the encouragement from the school’s brilliant teachers, this will mean better class attendance and better results in the long run.

#10000STRONG

Library Books

Library Books

May 4, 2022 | Corporate Social Responsibility

Reading helps to expand knowledge, vocabulary, and understanding. One’s level of literacy also determines economic and social development. When your reading ability declines, so too does your ability to learn.

In South Africa, there is a major literacy crisis. A lack of basic reading and writing skills is primarily caused by shortcomings in the education system, as well as a deficit in available resources. It is of utmost importance that children are encouraged to read at as early an age as possible.

Our #10000STRONG initiative hosted a book donation drive, where people could donate pre-loved books appropriate for school children. An incredible amount of over 350 books were donated. We restored the books by covering them in plastic and created a simple library system for the books to be enjoyed by the learners. Amongst these books were some of our all-time favourites, including Charlotte’s Web, The Famous Five series, and some educational books such as dictionaries and first readers for the younger learners.

These books were donated just after World Book Day to our partner school in KwaNgcolosi. Along with the beautifully restored books, we were also able to donate six custom-built bookshelves, gifted by KS Shopfitters.

The Affinity family continue to collect books, furniture and other resources for the little library which was created to be enjoyed by learners and teachers for years to come.

10000 STRONG
Food Parcels

Food Parcels

May 4, 2022 | Corporate Social Responsibility

As the festive season approaches, many start gearing up for the holidays by stocking up on presents and cooking mountains of food. A lucky few receive time off from work and enjoy a period of relaxation, copious amounts of food and much quality time and laughter with their loved ones.

In South Africa, where one of the largest wealth and inequality gaps across the world exists, it becomes easy to forget that not everyone has the same experience during this time of year, especially when if you are one of the lucky few. In fact, for many the festive season, and all that it comes with, can act as a burden. With primary breadwinners in many families across South Africa taking strain as children no longer receive complementary meals from school, accompanied by being out of work for that time of year. Resources run low and there is no additional support to help provide for the household. The onset of the covid-19 pandemic has made meeting ends meet even more difficult than usual for many.

The Affinity Group realise that many learners from our beneficiary school face this reality and as a result, the generous staff from The Affinity Group pull together to raise funds in order to provide every child from Isihlangusabasha Primary to take home a food parcel for the December holidays. This effort has been maintained from 2020, with three food parcel donations having been with a food parcel to take home to their families over this particularly difficult festive period.

The parcels consisted of basic food supplies that could assist in taking strain off the families of the 496 learners that attend the primary school. The parcels are delivered just before the school officially closes for the holiday period. We receive wonderful feedback regarding the way in which this small gift helps the families of the learners.

We aim to continue this tradition of giving for as long as we are able to!

10000 STRONG
School Shoes

School Shoes

May 4, 2022 | Corporate Social Responsibility

In the early months of 2021, the #10000STRONG initiative was approached by Inkanyiso School Shoes, a social enterprise that produce school shoes for learners in need. Many learners from under-resourced schools do not have the luxury of replacing school shoes every couple of months when they outgrow their old ones. Inkanyiso School shoes give learners the gift of owning a brand-new pair of school shoes – a wonderful effort in improving the lives of these learners as most of them walk to school.

Inkanyiso School Shoes kindly donated 20 pairs of school shoes to #10000STRONG. The Affinity Group matched this donated and our generous Affinity staff raised enough funds to sponsor an additional 51 pairs. This totalled a donation of an amazing 91 pairs of shoes to our beneficiary school, Isihlangusabasha Primary!

Shoes were donated to every learner in the school who were needing a new pair in their required size. It was a wonderful and encouraging day as Nkanyiso from Inkanyiso School Shoes and some staff members from the Affinity Group spent the morning distributing the shoes and spending time with the learners.

We are so grateful to be able to care for and serve these learners in any way that we can are and are so appreciative to anyone who partners with us on this journey.

10000 STRONG