The December R2 hope projects to help GoTG

The KFC Add Hope initiative has raised serves more than 33 million meals to hungry children each year. File Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

The KFC Add Hope initiative has raised serves more than 33 million meals to hungry children each year. File Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Published Dec 6, 2023

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Give the gift of hope this December and turn R2 into R4 which will go towards Gift of the Givers and bring some hope to hungry children.

This December, every single R2 contribution made to the KFC Add Hope project will go directly to Gift of the Givers, Africa’s biggest disaster relief organisation. And KFC will match the final amount donated until the end of December.

Communities have supported the Add Hope project since 2009 and proved that small change can make a big change.

Add Hope has raised more than R953 milllion over the years and served 283 million meals in 14 years. It serves more than 33 million meals to hungry children each year.

Through the R2 to the KFC Add Hope programme, KFC and Gift of the Givers will ensure that more South African children will not suffer the devastation of hunger and malnutrition this festive season.

This partnership will enable KFC and Gift of the Givers to not only enhance the reach of their hunger programmes and feed more children, but to celebrate and show South Africans how their contributions, no matter how small, can provide the greatest of gifts in this season of giving – the gift of hope.

“We forget the big our small can do and while many of us are lucky to be able to regard R2 as small change, it can make such a big change,” said Andra Nel, KFC marketing manager.

She said that together, all the R2 donations customers have added to their bills since the KFC Add Hope programme started in 2009 have and will continue to make differences in the daily lives of many South African children.

Through the KFC Add Hope project customers raised R5 million for Gift of the Givers last December. The humanitarian organisation received R10 million in January from these proceeds.

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman of Gift of the Givers

Founded in 1992 by Doctor Imtiaz Sooliman, the Gift of the Givers Foundation has become a beacon of hope in South Africa and around the world.

It is the largest African-founded disaster response non-governmental organisation on continent. It has helped provide R4.5 billion in aid to 45 countries in over 30 years.

“For millions of South African children, there is no holiday from hunger, particularly with the economy in the state it is in after the incredibly hard years of the pandemic,” said Sooliman.

He said the numbers of children suffering from hunger and malnutrition in South Africa increased every year. A report from the Nelson Mandela Children’s foundation in October found that there were 8 million hungry children in South Africa.

“We have seen it on the ground when we have worked at disaster sites, whether it be a fire or floods. Hunger affects children, parents and communities on a psychological, emotional and physical level and leaves millions struggling to hold on to hope.”

Gift of the Givers’ hunger alleviation programme incorporates short-term and long-terms assistance. From providing food parcels and innovating the world’s first groundnut high-energy, protein supplement, the organisation seeks to implement effective solutions such as small-scale, self-help agricultural projects in communities. This empowers communities to take control of their own food security.

“For Gift of Givers and KFC Add Hope, being able to lift more children out of the disaster that is hunger is a test of our humanity and our collective responsibility as South Africans. By sharing what we can afford to share, such as the R2 so many have donated by KFC’s customers, we give children hope and increase their potential to break out of the cycle of poverty, and that is the greatest gift we can give,” Sooliman said.

Pretoria News

zelda.venter@inl.co.za