Over and above the foundation’s commitment to education, their Sew Good initiative promotes skills development by teaching previously unemployed women how to sew - starting with blankets which are then donated to those in need.
According to a study conducted by Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), eight out of ten Grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language. Deidre Vrede, CSI Consultant at TFG says statistics like these can only be improved on through taking action.
“In a bid to make books more accessible to children, we have committed to funding five school libraries this year. Funding will be used to refurbish libraries, provide books and provide a stipend for a librarian.”
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, school feeding programs help to prevent hunger, reduce absenteeism, and improve enrolment and learning outcomes.
Deidre says that providing adequate nutrition in schools was a component that could not be overlooked. “From the onset, we wanted to make a sustainable contribution and decided to establish vegetable gardens in communities. In Caledon, we partnered with Greyton Transition Town to establish vegetable gardens which are maintained by learners, teachers and parents at three schools. Produce from these gardens are used to supplement the feeding scheme. Any excess produce is either given to families in need or sold, serving as an extra source of income for the school.”
The vegetable garden project has been expanded to include Gauteng and Eswatini with plans already in place for growth in KwaZulu-Natal and Maitland in the Western Cape.
The “Your Fashion Future” bursary in partnership with FEDISA Fashion School in Cape Town enables youth from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to learn and succeed in the world of fashion.
The Elliot Osrin Bursary is another example of how the foundation invests in growth and development of learners to enhance their skills and become future leaders. The bursary programme is aimed at identifying high-potential final-year students in need of financial aid in order to complete their Honours and Masters.
“We should acknowledge and where we can, back those with potential and a drive to succeed. To this end, we have impacted the lives of over sixty candidates by investing R6.2 million in bursaries and school fees over the last five years,” Deidre adds.
Over and above bursary allocations, the TFG Foundation has been instrumental in school building upgrades such as the Nederberg Primary in Paarl where they donated over R300,000 towards the building of six new classrooms. Ongoing initiatives include donations of school uniforms and funds towards Early Childhood Development in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
“Additional support from our brands which include the likes of Hi, Exact, Fabiani, TFG Publishing and American Swiss just to name a few, have been instrumental in the successful rollout of our plans. Through this collaborative effort we are making a positive difference,” Deidre adds.
To find out more about TFG Foundation’s initiatives, visit: mytfgworld.com.
