Make Christmas Matter November 22, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: charity
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2008 has been a tough year and with the fallout from the financial and economic crisis Christmas this year is likely to be very thin for a lot of people this year.
Purely by chance I came across this campaign and I thought I would post the details of this campaign and thought it might be nice to let people know it exists and see if they can help out where they can:
Make Christmas Matter
Make Christmas Matter is a GreaterGood South Africa campaign that gives you the chance to break the mould and give Christmas some real meaning.
How it works
The Make Christmas Matter online store has a range of gifts to help you change lives this festive season:
Choose some great alternative gifts.
Personalise your own gift cards to send to friends, family, colleagues or business associates explaining how the gifts are helping to change lives in South Africa.
You make Christmas matter in 2008.
Where your gifts go
All the gifts support carefully selected projects working towards the eradication of poverty in South Africa. Make Christmas Matter uses GreaterGood SA’s SASIX assessment and evaluation process to select the projects that will benefit. This includes peer review panels, site visits, a comprehensive organisation and risk assessment, research, evaluation and detailed reporting.
So when you buy a Make Christmas Matter gift, you can be sure that your contribution will make a real difference, to real people and communities, facing very real problems in South Africa. The gifts are chosen from approved project budgets in priority development sectors.
Did you know?
Since it started in 2005, Make Christmas Matter has raised almost R1.5m for 17 development projects ranging from a child immunisation programme in the Northern Cape to a community environmental education drive on the East Rand.
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)
Goal4Africa to help create a legacy for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ July 16, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: charity, Children, Sports
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Inspired by both the legacy of Nelson Mandela - who celebrates his 90th birthday shortly – and in particular the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup™, a new global initiative aimed at bringing together education and football has kicked off.
The Goal4Africa Foundation was founded by AC Milan and Holland star Clarence Seedorf with the aim of raising funds for educational and development programmes in Africa, while at the same time promoting the development of soccer on the continent.
According to the foundation, the objective is to create a legacy for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ by raising funds for both football development and educational programmes in order to contribute to an African Legacy Programme that will promote peace and nation-building, help alleviate poverty, and support economic development and opportunities. The funds raised will also be used to establish and boost development programmes for children.
The latest Goal4Africa campaign, which will lead up to the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, was launched with a charity football match hosted at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany this past Saturday (July 12).
The match featured a number of the globe’s top players, including Seedorf, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba, Kaká, Frank Lampard, Robin van Persie, Gianluigi Buffon, Emmanuel Adebayor, Stephen Gerrard, Samuel Eto’o, and Michael Essien and in their presence, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Sizwe Mandela, scored the first goal.
This is just the first of many goals that will help raise funds for the project, as more businesses and private individuals are now encouraged to come on board and help raise funds by donating a specified amount of money for every goal scored by their chosen team or favourite player.
The organisation’s Web site (www.goal4africa.org) also points out those digital goals will be scored through an interactive goal kicking game on the World Wide Web, as well as through a similar game available on mobile phones and another through consoles
How this will work is that a fan playing the interactive game can choose to donate an amount of money for every goal scored during the game they are playing.
In keeping with the World Cup’s concept of sporting brotherhood, Goal4Africa claims to support FIFA’s ‘Win in Africa with Africa’ initiative, the 2010 Local Organising Committee’s African Legacy Programme, as well as the African Union’s mission to eradicate poverty in Africa.
Or as Seedorf points out: “The Goal4Africa Foundation is committed to leaving an enduring positive legacy on the whole of the African continent”.
Visit: http://www.goal4africa.org
by Rodney Weidemann
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)
XPLANE Creates Illustrated Report for UNICEF July 14, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: charity, UNICEF
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This is not a South African related post exactly but I did pick up the following announcement related to a UNICEF project. Seeing as UNICEF are active in South Africa, I felt it was importantly to give them some exposure:
Designed by XPLANE, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has published ‘A World Fit For Us’, an illustrated report for young people that details the state of, and progress around, some of the world’s most pressing issues through the personal stories of 19 youth. The report is UNICEF’s promised follow up to the more than 400 children from over 150 countries who participated in the United Nations Special Session on Children held in New York in May 2002 and expressed their visions for the future. The report is hoped to be an educational and empowerment tool for years to come.
“Pictures are the universal language,” said Aric Wood, chief executive officer, XPLANE. “Understanding the importance of visual communication is the basis of our entire business, and we are proud to be working with an organization as important as UNICEF to create a powerful and unified voice for children around the world.”
Twenty-four pages in length and printed in English, Spanish, French and Japanese, ‘A World Fit For Us’ shares true stories that range from addressing the issues of war, health care, HIV and AIDS, the environment, education and poverty. Aside from offering updates on key world conflicts five years following the Special Session, the book also provides ideas for action moving forward. The report was unveiled on Dec. 9 through UNICEF field offices in over 150 countries and UNICEF national committees in 35 industrialized countries.
“Following the Special Session in 2002 and hearing first-hand the hopes, concerns and dreams of our world’s children, it was absolutely clear that we owed them an update as to what has been achieved, and what is still being strived for, five years later,” said Patricia Moccia, section chief, division of communication, UNICEF. “This report is UNICEF’s responsibility to the children of the Special Session as we acknowledge the importance of each of their voices and let them know their demands were heard and responded to. Making the report an illustrated production allowed us to offer the update in a way that could be understood around the world.”
The report’s visuals, created by a team of 10 illustrators, aim to add emotion and storytelling to otherwise complex quantitative data so that it can be more easily understood and embraced by children everywhere.
The UNICEF project represents just the latest in XPLANE’s work to promote conversation for change in regards to advancing the lives of children. Most recently, the company produced the “Did You Know? 2.0″ presentation with educator Karl Fisch to advance discussion on how to better educate today’s youth for a continually shifting world.
“Images are a powerful tool for communication and learning,” said Wood. “XPLANE is committed to applying that tool in all areas needed - from driving business results for our clients to discussing world issues we believe need to be shared.”
Source: www.sanepr.com
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)
Children of Fire July 13, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: charity, Children
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Children of Fire (http://www.firechildren.org) had an excellent advert on the radio this afternoon. The advert made me aware of their website and some of the initiatives they are trying to drive and I thought I would use this blog to try and rustle up some support for them
Children of Fire is a group of charities aimed at supporting children who have been burnt in fires. In many rural communities, shack fires break out with alarming regularity, with many open flames and gas fires operating in unstable environments. When these shacks go up in flames, the fires spread rapidly and very often the people that get caught in the fires are those children who are unable to run.
Children of Fire and their associated charities aims to raise funds to assist with various medical expenses and in some cases assist with plastic surgery to help these kids lead a better life.
Check out their website at http://www.firechildren.org and see if you can get involved!
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)
Support local sports clubs June 27, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: charity, sponsorship, sport
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The harsh reality is that the majority of major sport and recreation clubs are hanging by an absolute thread financially. Declining membership, decreased bar turnover and simply fewer people playing sport means that the smaller membership base is having to support increasing expenses. It becomes a vicious cycle.
This is a pity because sports clubs are instrumental in maintaining the social standing and health of citizens in the surrounding areas. Being quite actively involved in Pirates Sports Club / Pirates Hockey I am very aware of the role we play in providing sports facilities to the surrounding schools and development programmes. However, there seems to be a perception that the “rich” clubs in the traditionally affluent areas are immune from the realities of economics.
Clubs need as much support from surrounding communities as possible in the form of fundraising and simply attending the club and supporting the bars can make a huge difference to these institutions. A club like Zoo Lake has been reinvigorated because an entrepreneur came in and found a way to get people to attend and support. These feet through the doors contributes to keeping the club visible to potential members.
Make a concerted effort to support your local clubs - even if it simply to support their kitchen or bar facilities. If you are running a business in the area then try and centre some of your Corporate Social Investment (CSI) or Responsibility (CSR) activities around them. You might not make a huge difference from a marketing perspective but it could make a significant difference to the attitudes and social conditions in your community.
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)
Mimmos - pizza feeding scheme June 25, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: charity, Feeding Scheme, Mimmos
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Mimmos in conjunction with 94.7 Highveld Stereo are on a mission to provide schools with 947 pizzas as part of a feeding scheme in the country. This is a great goodwill gesture that allows them to maximise their radio exposure while contributing to feeding hungry school kids who are probably being extremely hard hit by the rising costs of food. If the kids at school aren’t hungry then it will probably put them in a better mood / position to learn which will boost education at grassroots levels.
If you would like to suggest a school for the feeding scheme please email nominate@mimmos.co.za
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)
Introduction June 24, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: aid projects, charity, Corporate social investment, sponsorship, volunteerism
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Welcome to the Social Investor blog.
Corporate social investment, sponsorship, charity, volunteerism and aid projects have become a criticial part of developing sustainable societies. Unfortunately many of us don’t know how or where we can get involved so that we can make a meaningful difference.
The aim of this blog is to highlight various projects that are on the go and to raise awareness of projects so that ordinary citizens and the businesses they represent can identify ways to get involved.
If you have projects that you would like highlight or promoted please e-mail newsdesk@rival.co.za
(Sponsor Link: assetant.co.za)