The DO MORE FOUNDATION recently invited employees of its partner organisations and others to donate two cans each to its World Food Day campaign, ‘Together WeCAN#DoMore’. In response, its founding corporate partner RCL FOODS set up can collections at 36 of its sites, while another 34 companies also joined the initiative – including Gagasi FM which put out a call to its listeners to get involved. Together, they collected more than 8800 cans of food, providing over 17 600 meals to ease hunger.
Through corporate donations the DO MORE FOUNDATION was also able to provide food hampers to 300 needy families in KwaZulu-Natal (identified through the Phoenix and Verulam Child & Family Welfare) and 3.5 tons of RCL FOODS products to the National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) in support of its World Food Day campaign.
On World Food Day, Gagasi FM assisted in distributing the food parcels and cans in KwaZulu-Natal, while RCL FOODS employees delivered cans to a further 30 charities across South Africa. The balance will be distributed through FoodForward SA (formerly Food Bank).
“As the DO MORE FOUNDATION we were bowled over by the support we received – not just from our existing partners, but from new organisations who rose to the occasion and contributed not only through collecting cans, but through donations that meant we could #DoMore. Special thanks to our main campaign partners for their valuable contributions – Gagasi FM for radio ads and campaign assistance, The Hardy Boys for design, Globeflight for courier services, Snazzi Solutions for photos, and Barrows for collection boxes – all provided pro bono. This is a great illustration of how together, we really can do more – and not just on World Food Day,” said DO MORE FOUNDATION Executive, Warren Farrer.
Organisations who collected cans are RCL FOODS, Eversheds Sutherland, Magnet Electrical, VA-CON, Europcar, IFM Electronics, Brenley Engineering, BCX, GEA Africa, K5 Business, Old Mutual Insurance, Smith & Nephew, Tegwen Agencies, LIMA Rural Development Foundation, Activate Group, TREE, BARROWS, BMW Supertech, Milady’s, Compendium Insurance, Sentinel Transport, CPW Printers, EPA Architects, Snazzi Solutions and ARB Electrical. Companies who donated towards meals for the campaign include RCL FOODS, AJA Transport, Salchain iAfrica, IFM Electronics, DFS Process Solutions, John Thompson, Pitbull Printing.
World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October in honour of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day focuses on encouraging millions of people around the world to work towards eradicating world hunger. Globally, 815 million people don’t have enough to eat, and hunger kills more than AIDS, Malaria & Tuberculosis combined. In South Africa, more than half the population is suffering from hunger or are likely to, as a result of which an unacceptable 27% of children under the age of five are stunted.
“This year’s World Food Day theme – ‘Our Actions Are Our Future’ – is a call to take action now if we want to achieve the United Nations’ goal of #ZeroHunger by 2030. It reminds us that every positive action makes a difference, which is also the heartbeat of the DO MORE FOUNDATION – bringing people and organisations together to DO MORE than they can alone. On that note, thank you to all who took action this World Food Day – and we won’t stop there. By continuing to join hands in the fight against poverty and hunger, we can collectively bring the change we want to see in the world,” said Farrer.
