Many households have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, consequently leading to salary cuts and unemployment.To fight child hunger in vulnerable communities in South Africa, newly established Paxful Africa Fund has joined forces with ECD centres to launch the bitcoin donation campaign. The aim of the campaign is to provide COVID-19 relief & raise awareness about child hunger across the country. The fund has already provided 8,400 meals, facilitated by GROW Educare Centres and The Clothing Bank.
Since 2015, Paxful has been empowering people around the world to have control of their money using peer-to-peer transactions. They have over 3 million customers globally who you can instantly buy and sell bitcoin using over 300 different payment methods. Paxfulâs charitable initiative, #BuiltWithBitcoin has a long history of encouraging the bitcoin community to support charitable initiatives around the world.
So far, Paxfulâs Africa Fund has provided 8,400 meals across South Africa facilitated by GROW Educare Centres and The Clothing Bank. They have also provided 6,100 masks for frontline workers in Kenya; as well as essential items such as food, vitamin C, sanitizer, face masks, diapers, etc. issued to 1,000 underserved people in Nigeria.
âThere has never been a more important time to support micro-enterprises and young children. Not only are ECD Centres vital in the educational, social and emotional development of children, but they are also key contributors to well-functioning communities. The crypto-currency sector is developing a track record of supporting worthy causes and weâre encouraging our peers and customers to support charities like GROW ECD on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19,â said Ray Youssef, CEO of Paxful.
After receiving desperate messages from her pupilsâ families who told her they were running short of money for food, electricity and other basic necessities, Jennifer Crossley, Founder of GROW Generations Educare made sure that the families of the 60 children who attend her crèche received the food parcels donated by Paxful.
Crossley founded the crèche with her life savings, with the support of GROW Educare Centres (GROW). Most of her pupils come from poverty-stricken and working-class families who rely on the creche for at least 2 meals a day. âWhen I heard that food had been donated, it was definitely a miracle at the right moment. There was one Dad who told me the same morning that he had wondered what he was going to cook for his children and then I put on the group that GROW has food parcels, and he was very thankful,â she said.
âWe are incredibly grateful for Paxful and our other donorsâ contributions to our hunger relief efforts. The need for food is dire in all the most vulnerable communities across South Africa during these trying times. Many of the children who attend our Educare Centres are dependent on the nutritional meals provided to them daily at our Centres, and with schools closed, in some cases, children are going hungry. Paxfulâs donation will have a positive impact on children in need, their families and under-served communities at large,â said Tracey Chambers, CEO of GROW.
