#Mandela100: Radisson Hotel SA supports SOS Children's Village

Photography Credit: Khosain Davids

Cape Town

The six Radisson hotels in Cape Town created 500 care packs for the destitute, which consisted of t-shirts, amenities, shaving kits, Mandela Tea, sweets and load-shedding kit which included candles and matches.

The teams stopped at Shortmarket Street and Company Gardens to hand out these care packs and 50 blankets. To spread smiles across the city, the enthusiastic teams also handed out sweets with motivational notes to all they came across.

Each of the six Cape Town hotels adopted a home within the SOS Children’s Village in Cape Town, all of which have already received extensive maintenance and repairs, donated furniture, and new bedding over the last month. For Mandela Day, the teams donated items for the kitchens from cutlery and crockery to pots and pans; for the bathrooms from shower curtains and toothbrush holders to soap dispensers and all bathrooms amenities for the kids and caregivers. The bedroom and lounge areas, received curtains and full linen. In addition, the children received stationery, groceries and non-perishable items.

Johannesburg

The three Radisson Hotel Group hotels in Johannesburg came together to hand out care packs on route to SOS Children’s Village situated in Ennerdale. Items which were donated included over 1,100 soap bars, 120kg of laundry soaps, fruit, vegetables shampoo and conditioner. They also received 100 sandwiches, chocolates and juice boxes from Thomas Sabo to provide to the SOS Children’s Village. The hotels gathered hand towels, linen, slippers, face cloths, bottled water, juice, chips, colouring books and crayons.

The donated items were split up to provide to those in need on route to and including SOS Children’s Village.

The staff of the hotels also donated educational toys, kiddie’s clothes and amenities as well as lunch for the 67 children and six teachers at Thandulwazi Day Care Centre. In addition, the hotels donated old uniforms and amenities to the Kotze Street Shelter.

Polokwane

Park Inn Polokwane spent their time on Mandela Day by stopping at Jack Botes Park and Seshego Circle where they handed out sandwiches, care packs and spent time with the community.

The final stop for the day was the Makgona Drop-In Centre in Mmotong, Seshego where the hotel team served the full centre, including the kids with a hearty samp and beef stew. The hotel donated clothing and snacks to the centre and poured river sand over the play area to provide a softer surface for the kids to play on.

Port Elizabeth

To celebrate Mandela’s centenary, Radisson Blu Hotel Port Elizabeth spent 100 minutes over the past week assisting a different beneficiary each day. The hotel reached out to the community to donate and join them at one of their beneficiaries: Gelvan Park Old Aged Home, Northwood Children’s Hospice, Happydale Hope Youth, P.E. Mental Health, Capricorn House and Save a Pet.

They received donations of toiletries, towels, face cloths, arts and crafts, plants, flowers, seeds, leashes and pet food which were donated to the respective beneficiaries. Those who were unable to donate the above-requested items were encouraged to donate money to raise R100,000 to further assist these identified charities.

"Responsible business is at the heart of our company’s promise of making every moment matter, which also means that we support and help advance the communities in which we operate. Our partnership with SOS will allow us to help provide a home and a better future for the most vulnerable children in the world," said William McIntyre, regional director, Africa, Radisson Hotel Group.

Radisson Hotel Group is encouraging each of its 1,100 hotels to sponsor the upbringing and education of at least one child per hotel and to establish meaningful relationships with the SOS Children’s Villages in their respective countries. The business leadership team of the group is contributing by privately sponsoring more than 50 children from SOS Children’s Villages.