In the spirit of Mandela Day, 125 volunteers - consisting of VWSA employees based in Gauteng and their loved ones - gathered for the company's annual Show of Hands initiative and packed 40 000 meals to help needy children.
For this year's Show of Hands event, VWSA partnered with the international hunger relief organisation Rise Against Hunger, with the aim of providing nutrition for children at 153 Early Childhood Development centres. The volunteers were tasked with packing 40 000 meals, which is enough to provide the children at these centres with five meals a week for an entire year.
The beneficiary of this initiative is Ntataise, a non-profit organisation working to increase access to quality ECD education for children from disadvantaged communities across South Africa.
"With 1,7 million households in South Africa facing hunger, the reality is that many children have to go to school hungry," said Thomas Schaefer, chairman and managing director of Volkswagen Group South Africa. "This impacts on their education and their wellbeing."
"It is inspiring to see how many of our employees were willing to give their time in order to make a difference. I believe the work that was done over this past weekend will have a significant impact in these children's lives."
