#ItsInYourHands: Celebrate Mandela Day

Source: © south African government South African government This year, the Mandela Day theme is '#ItIsInYourHands' and aims to combat poverty and inequity

The 2024 theme, announced by the Nelson Mandela Foundation is It's still in our hands to combat poverty and inequity for 2024.

The theme underscores the urgent need for collective action to address social injustices and drive sustainable change on a global scale.

Many companies and agencies are showing their love with different initiatives of 67 minutes.

Annual Mandela Day Walk & Run

One of the Mandela Day initiatives is the Annual Mandela Day Walk & Run, scheduled to take place on 20 July at the Bullring, the DP World Wanderers Stadium in Illovo, Johannesburg.

This event anticipates hosting 10,000 participants and offers a 5km walk as well as a 10km and 21km run.

Supported by BP South Africa, Balwin Properties, and partners such as DP World Wanderers Stadium, Lion’s Cricket, Discovery Vitality, and Bloomberg, this year's event is expected to be one of the most exciting Mandela Day events of the year.

This year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation launched a Virtual Mandela Day Walk & Run, providing people throughout South Africa, Africa and worldwide, with the opportunity to also participate in this event.

Registration is now open at here with race collection scheduled for today and 19 July at Wanderers Stadium.

This year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation launched a Virtual Mandela Day Walk & Run, providing people throughout South Africa, Africa and worldwide, with the opportunity to also participate in this event.

For those unable to join our Walk & Run event in person, this is a great opportunity to participate in this celebration virtually by supporting the cause through a donation on the Foundation page.

By making a donation of choice and printing the assigned virtual ID Race number to proudly display on a shirt on Saturday, July 20, 2024, people can show their support for our global icon and participate in the walk or run from any corner of the world.

Good Hope FM and Ladles of Love

Source: © Webtickets Webtickets Good Hope FM is at the V&A Waterfront with Ladles of Love helping 5,500 small children in desperate need, and breaking the world record for most volunteers involved

Good Hope FM is at the V&A Waterfront with Ladles of Love helping 5,500 small children in desperate need and breaking the world record for most volunteers involved.

The Morning Show with Leigh-Anne Williams broadcasted live between 9 am and 12 pm from The Lookout Venue at V&A Waterfront - making sandwiches, packing nutrition boxes, crafting toys, collating educational books and posters and assembling mini edible garden kits to help vulnerable children at pre-schools, centres, shelters, and creches in the poorest communities across the Cape Peninsula.

Tickets via Webtickets to the event will fund 40 healthy meals for children in need, and give ticket holders the chance to physically be involved, choose their own time slot and activity during the V&A live broadcast, and spend 67 minutes making or packing items to help children grow.

5FM

On Wednesday 17 July 5FM joined the fight against hunger at Sandton Convention Centre.

The station also supported Rise Against Hunger Africa – a charity that provided 5,254,598 meals to those in desperate need in 2023 – and broadcast the 5 Mid Mornings show with Stephanie Be and Yonaka live at the venue from 09h00 to 12h00 to raise awareness around the phenomenal work they do.

5FM and Good Hope FM PCS combo business manager, Masixole Mdingane, says, “In a world of abundance, way too many children, adults and elderly individuals have to go about their day without the most basic of nutrition, and it’s the whole 5 Nation’s responsibility and privilege to
do whatever we can to help.

"Food insecurity not only threatens the health and well-being of communities but also hinders socio-economic development and perpetuates cycles of poverty, so it’s an honour for us to positively impact the communities we broadcast to, to get firmly behind this cause and make a practical, life-changing and possibly life-saving difference.”

Register here to join the event.

Checkers Sixty60 and Meals on Wheels

Checkers Sixty60 is calling on customers to support non-profit Meals on Wheels by donating non-perishable food items through the Sixty60 app to any one of five designated collection points. Checkers Sixty60 will match the value of all donations made between 15-18 July.

Donations can be made from anywhere in South Africa. Simply open the Sixty60 app, go to the delivery address bar, type in ‘Meals on Wheels’, select one of the listed Meals on Wheels locations and place your order. A special Meals on Wheels section on the app will guide customers in terms of which products are best suited for donation, ensuring that all contributions are as impactful as possible.

Customers who donate will have their delivery fee credited to the Sixty60 app.

Good Things Guy and OneCart

Good Things Guy and OneCart have joined forces to bring a little bit of joy to 67 deserving readers.

Sixty-seven Good Things Guy readers will be selected to receive a grocery delivery worth R500 directly to their doorstep.

This initiative aims to support those who cannot get to the shops themselves, whether it’s a new mom, an elder in the community, or someone recovering on bed rest.

Nominate a deserving individual at www.goodthingsguy.com

SA Harvest's #BucketsofNutrition challenge

SA Harvest took on the exciting #BucketsofNutrition Challenge at the V&A Waterfront.

From 11 am to 3 pm, SA Harvest and the V&A Waterfront and packed nutritious food buckets in energetic 10-minute time slots at Maker’s Landing, aiming to fill as many buckets as possible each session.

Every R500 donated equals a bucket of nutrition that feeds a family of four for up to three weeks, making each contribution impactful and far-reaching. Financial donations toward the purchase of bucket list items are welcomed, as are volunteers to help pack the buckets.

Plascon

(Image supplied) In Cape Town, Plascon made a donation to the Tygerberg Hospital to uplift the theatre recovery room for children. This donation enabled Funky Murals to transform the theatre recovery room from a white clinical space into a lively environment

Local coatings brand Plascon is engaged in two exciting community service initiatives, and brought colour to a community centre in Gauteng, and the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.

The Bakone Community Home-Based Care Centre in Kagiso, Krugersdorp, is a home for orphans, vulnerable children and people affected by and infected with HIV/Aids. It is Plascon’s local employee involvement project and repaired and repainted an area of Bakone Community Centre and donated much-needed items to the facility.

Donation boxes calling for items such as stationery, blankets, toys, and non-perishable food items have been placed at Plascon’s offices, and several employees have volunteered.

In Cape Town, Plascon donated to Tygerberg Hospital to uplift the theatre recovery room for children. This donation enabled Funky Murals to transform the theatre recovery room from a white clinical space into a lively environment.

“We felt we needed to change their experience and to transform the children’s section of the recovery room into a colourful wonderland with soft, whimsical images on the walls and ceiling,’ noted Shenaaz Essa, anesthesiologist and founder of the Sleep Fairy project.

“This would fascinate them, distract them and reduce their anxiety and pain.”

“We chose vibrant, bright shades of yellow, oranges and reds to uplift the mood and create warmth and a playful atmosphere in the recovery room,’ says Janlene Lamour, owner and muralist of Funky Murals.

“The designs were selected by the doctors who wanted animals with friendly faces. We also painted the ceiling with the sky, clouds, rainbows and the sun so that when the children open their eyes after surgery, they see this awesome colourful setting above their heads.”

Danone

A collaborative effort between Danone, Envirolite Concrete, DP World/Motus Trust, and Pick n Pay School Club saw NutriDay’s Tubs2Classrooms Project build a library for Morojaneng Primary School in Katlehong.

The NutriDay’s Tubs2Classrooms Project upcycles yoghurt tubs into lightweight, durable bricks.

“Good health is a foundation for future progress, but a healthy body needs to be mentally stimulated too. The library, stocked with books and resources, provides an invaluable learning opportunity for children,” says Leanne Kiezer, head of corporate affairs at Danone South Africa.

Additionally, Danone & Hope SA conducted health screenings for the community during the day to assess their blood sugar and pressure and conducted eye tests.

“It’s encouraging to witness the positive change brought about by such partnerships inspired by Danone’s Impact Journey and we are extremely grateful that we have the opportunity to make such a fundamental difference in the South African community in areas where it matters most,” continues Kiezer.

Nicci Boutiques

(Image supplied) Nicci Boutiques (Nicci) and Fingertips of Africa Sewing Academy launched limited-edition blankets and scrunchies this Mandela Day

Nicci Boutiques (Nicci), a fashion women’s boutique, in partnership with Fingertips of Africa Sewing Academy, a non-profit organisation dedicated to uplifting women in need launched limited-edition blankets and scrunchies available at selected Nicci stores nationwide and online.

“Customers can use their purchasing power for good, knowing they are helping build brighter futures and actioning positive change,” says Niki Breger, co-founder of Nicci.

Fingertips of Africa adopts communities, publicising their plight and galvanising support to help meet their basic needs. With access to essentials and a connection to people who care, these communities can start to build brighter futures.

The non-profit runs various programmes, including Fingertips Sewing Academy, founded in 2020 to empower women and help them find sustainable sources of income whilst upskilling them.

ECAfrica

ECAfrica, a social impact tech startup, has created a space for connection and conversation by hosting Open Fireside Chats. This event coincides with the successful completion of Season 1 of its insightful podcast series, "ECAfrica Talks."

In the spirit of Madiba's legacy, ECAfrica has reopened its African Media Resource Centre, the heart of its Fireside Chats. This space, previously dormant due to Covid-19 restrictions, will once again serve as a platform for knowledge sharing and community building.

The Fundza Literacy Trust

The Fundza Literacy Trust’s vision is to improve accessibility to reading and writing resources in South Africa. The release of Fundza’s first audiobook, Taxi to Hell, shortly after World Book Day in April exemplifies this commitment, and the Trust is proud to announce that over 8,390 listeners have engaged with the story online to date.

Scientifically speaking, audiobooks can match the beneficial effects of reading, as both mediums stimulate the same cognitive and emotional areas of the brain.

Despite fears that audiobooks stop people from reading, evidence from the National Literacy Trust in the UK suggests that the inverse is true: they not only improve literacy (through comprehension and decoding), but actually encourage reading.

Chase Rhys, head of content at the Fundza Literacy Trust, comments that audiobooks, at their most simple, are the audio narration of the written word: “Whether done for works of fiction or nonfiction, the narration of texts remains a popular medium for disseminating information and stories to people beyond our social circles. Be it for educational purposes, entertainment, or both, the outcomes are the same - a widening and deepening of one’s relationship with the world.”