Social Investment in South Africa

This week the South African blogosphere and media have been covering the story of a Cape businessman who apparently had a dream and woke up the next morning and decided to give away his R1.2m Audi R8 to two homeless guys.

I read somewhere else that the guy has also just decided to give away his house and is handing out his cash – its an absolutely amazing story

This quote from an interview really jumped out at me: ““if you can help others, you must give without wanting in return.”

Definately a story to be followed.

Apparently this book by Seb Hunter entitled – “How to be a better person” - is quite a good read.

We get a lot of enquiries about how does one go about contacting the “Dis-Chem Foundation” which is a CSI / CSR initiative out of pharmacy chain Dis-chem.

You can find out more information on them via the Dis-Chem website at www.dischem.co.za and there is an e-mail address listed below. I tiny piece of feedback is that they should try and do a bit more to promote themselves. They are tucked away on the Dis-Chem site but a simple Google search still finds it difficult to pull up their details.

The write-up on the Dis-Chem Foundation describes the initiative as follows:

To provide care and support to improve the lives of individuals in their environments with their specific needs, and in so doing, relieve the burden of those around them.

“The Dis-Chem Foundation has been established so that we at Dis-Chem Pharmacies can continue to grow our commitment to our customers and extended communities.  In a country that is so needy on different levels, the Dis-Chem Foundation will assist people in need and our motto is ‘one- on-one caring for the community’”  said Lynette Saltzman, Director of Dis-Chem Pharmacies.

The aim of the Dis-Chem Foundation is to select individuals to whom we can offer specific relief in different circumstances. In this way we are relieving the burden of supporting them from family friends and communities, therefore our efforts are more far-reaching than merely caring for the chosen few.

The Foundation’s aim is to help people whose faces and names you will come to know and whose stories will become a part of your life. We will follow their progress so you are able to feel the positive impact that assistance from the Foundation has made.

The Dis-Chem Foundation is a part of Dis-Chem Pharmacies Benefits Programme, a customer loyalty programme whereby members get benefit points on what they spend in the stores, and at the same time Dis-Chem puts a percentage into the Foundation Fund.
 
The main endeavor of the Dis-Chem Foundation is to help people in various circumstances for example: financial, lifestyle improvements, educational needs, health attention etc.

Requests for assistance can be emailed to foundation@dischem.co.za

Probably one of the best Social Responsibility projects in South Africa are the OutSurance Pointsmen.

I haven’t seen them around since getting back to JHB 10 days ago and I hope that the initiative has not been stopped as they made an enormous difference to the lives of South Africans who have to sit in massive traffic backlogs throughout the day.

Basically the initiative involves dispatching pointsmen on bright green scooters to busy intersections to try and assist with the flow of traffic. It really does work and can cut as much as 30 minutes off of my time to and from work when they are at intersections on our route.

Productivity up, less stress (less road rage) etc.

Please carry this on in 2010!

Gauteng based corporate wellness, industrial research and publishing company Rival Industrial has sponsored the development and hosting of a website for the St Laurence Childrens Haven in Roodepoort.

The website will be used to highlight some of the activities that the home is involved in and to help it raise its profile to attract new sponsors and supporters.

“Businesses today take it for granted that they have a web presence of some kind but for places like St Laurence it is not necessarily something they can afford or maintain,” says Marc Ashton of Rival.

For this reason Rival has come on board to assist them in developing their online presence. It also provides the home with another way to interact with stakeholders.

To find out more about St Laurence please visit their site at www.stlaurencehaven.org.za.

n April 2009 Adii Rockstar, Internet Entrepreneur and WooThemes co-founder, was approached by a well known Cape Town radio personality to create a fundraising website for a young disadvantaged girl.  This bright girl, Mariana de Sousa, desperately wanted to attend a school that could provide her with the type of education that she deserved.  Being accepted by the prestigious Rustenburg Junior School for Girls in Cape Town was a dream come true for Mariana, but attending one of the best schools in the country came at a price.

Due to time-restrictions, Adii was unable to help create Mariana’s website, but he offered this young girl something far better.  Adii agreed to pay all of  Mariana’s school fees in his own capacity.  He also offered to pay all other costs involved to ensure that Mariana’s transition into this challenging and academically orientated environment would be a successful one.

It soon became evident to Adii that Mariana was only one of many young disadvantaged girls in South Africa who possessed loads of potential, but no means to improve their skills and education due to the general condition of the community schools they have access to.  Soon after, The Rockstar Foundation was born.

The Foundation opened its doors on 1 September 2009 with Mariana de Sousa, the inspiration behind the Foundation, being entered as the first official “Rockstar Girl”. The organization, still in its infancy, is now in the process of building strong foundations and mutually beneficial relationships in order to secure the best possible education for girls like Mariana who only need the right opportunity to fulfil their destiny.

For more information on The Rockstar Foundation please visit their website here.

Do you want to make a difference in somebody’s life this festive season, but don’t know where to start? Donate an Hour was launched in late October 2009 by husband and wife team Joey and Christine da Silva. The central idea was to create and manage a non-profit campaign that would raise funds for a specific cause each year.

Donate an Hour challenges both individuals and companies to donate one billable hour’s equivalent to the cause at hand. In 2009/2010, the Donate an Hour campaign will focus on Huis Luckhoff, a home for the aged located in Rosebank, Cape Town. The home provides frail care and full-time nursing facilities to its residents. Even though the home is partly subsidised by the Department of Social Services, there are severe deficits and shortages.

Both Christine and Joey bring extensive online experience to the table, and have pooled their knowledge and skills into setting up a website and online marketing campaign for the Donate an Hour initiative.

“We wanted to do something for a cause close to our hearts,” explains Christine, “and we decided that the easiest way to effect serious change would be through collaboration – which of course fits in very nicely with the central premises surrounding social media and web 2.0. We are both ‘web people’ and realised that by using online channels and existing structures, we could try to reach as many people as possible.”

“Through the Donate an Hour campaign, we hope to raise R500,000 to cover the home’s debt,” says Joey. “Ideally 10% of that by December 2009. All funds raised will go towards servicing Huis Luckoff’s debt so that they don’t have to further lay-off valuable nursing staff and can attend to desperate building maintenance.”

Individuals and companies who contribute will be credited on both the Huis Luckhoff and Donate an Hour websites. There will also be full disclosure, on both websites, as to how much money has been received and where the funds are being spent.

Anybody who would like to contribute is encouraged to visit the Donate an Hour site (donate-an-hour.org) to make their contribution. While the Donate an Hour concept advocates donating either a billable hour or an hour’s wage as a contribution, any donation would be greatly appreciated. Funds can be transferred by EFT into the Donate an Hour bank account, and details of the account are available on the site.

Contact Information:
Website: donate-an-hour.org

Donate an Hour is a non-profit initiative that seeks to build supportive collaboration for social change. Each year the initiative will take on a different project. This year the focus is on the elderly, and the campaign will concentrate specifically on Huis Luckhoff, a home for the aged in Rosebank, Cape Town.

Nazareth House is a little haven of hope in Yeoville, home to 35 orphaned children. The home receives children from the National and Provincial Social Welfare departments, the Children’s Court and the South African Police Service. Staff and volunteers are tasked with the care of these children’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs by providing 24 hour care, housing, nutritious food, clothing, education, specialised nursing and medication. It is this set of circumstances that has attracted Qatar Airways to this haven of hope when choosing a charity to support.

“The home’s sustainability and infrastructure makes it one of the best run orphanages in the city with many of their kids living way past their ‘medically expected lifespan’ due to the phenomenal devotion of all who work there,” says Greg Epps, Country Manager of Qatar Airways South Africa.

“That is why we decided to do something different and ensure that the kids had a normal Saturday out in Johannesburg.” Earlier this month, Qatar Airways filled a bus, supplied by the crew transfer company, with their staff and departed for Nazareth House where they picked up the kids and staff after a quick tour of the facility. The group headed for Fourways Mall for some Saturday morning shopping where each child was tasked with picking their own outfit, much to their delight of being able to exact a certain degree of independence.

“It was a real treat to feel the energy in that store, with so many happy and excited faces picking out their outfits for the summer season,” says Epps. With the shopping trip done, it was time to take the kids off to the Montecasino Bird Gardens where they were treated to a hearty lunch and some face painting. At the Bird Gardens the children were educated about conservation during an exotic bird show, where they were close to many famous birds including a Giant Eagle Owl, the world’s largest breed of owl swooping over them during the show and an environmentally conscious crow that picks up cans and throws them away.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed this show and thereafter roamed through the many exhibits at the gardens including a walk through the large aviary. Birds were not the only attractions on display, the kids also got a chance to see many reptiles and mammals such a Pythons, Ring-Tailed Lemurs and a very peculiar looking Sloth, which many of the children had never seen before! “One of the greatest things about today must have been the community of purpose that the entire Qatar Airways team experienced.

It is humbling to know that even for one day, we made the children of Nazareth House feel happy and loved and we’d like to thank the Qatar embassy who also assisted us in making this day possible,” concludes Epps.

For more information on Qatar Airways, visit www.qatarairways.com