The Shoprite Group served over 130 000 nutritious meals and delivered thousands of food packs to children at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres during lockdown, and ensured that these centres have been able to stay open at a time when many have faced closure.
ECD centres were closed for a considerable period due to lockdown regulations, however the Group ensured the centres it supports were able to continue feeding the children that depend on them.
“Through our partnerships with ECD centres, Shoprite helped thousands of children who would otherwise have gone hungry,” says Lunga Schoeman, the Group’s CSI Manager.
During lockdown the Group:
-
Served 132 060 meals to 4 260 beneficiaries;
-
Delivered 2 130 packs of food containing biryani, gravy mix, peanut butter, maize meal, rice and lentils, samp and beans, soya mince, porridge, vegetables, vita milk and vita drink;
-
Provided 362 ECD practitioners with R500 vouchers for two months when they had no income.
One of the 109 early childhood development centres that Shoprite support is Urban Ruins in Boksburg.
“The Shoprite partnership has been quite huge for us,” says founder Leigh Ingle. “A lot of the ECDs have closed since lockdown because of lack of funding and support, and amazingly with Shoprite’s support and our staff, we have actually grown and were able to keep staff employed.”
“Shoprite has been consistent since the beginning with food parcels and donations. It has also been supportive with educational tools, resources and with giving time to help with safety measures and training,” Ingle continues.
