The grocery retailer has contributed an initial R5m together with the Ackerman family, and CEO Richard Brasher has also offered to donate half his salary this month to the campaign, along with other group executives.
The Feed the Nation campaign will help those South Africans who rely on meal donations every day, and those who don’t have a support system to fall back on during this crisis," said Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at Pick n Pay.
“School closures have meant that many schoolchildren who were dependent on school feeding schemes for their main – sometimes only – meal of the day, have been left without food. Shelters for the homeless and orphanages who depend on public generosity are now without aid.”
Pick n Pay is encouraging customers to help Feed the Nation. A donation of just R21 will provide a daily meal to someone in need for a week.
Customers can help Feed the Nation in three easy ways:
1. Donate at the till point of any Pick n Pay store
2. Donate online at www.pnp.co.za/feed-the-nation
3. Donate Smart Shopper points (this can be done via the PnP app or in-store at the kiosk)
All cash donations will go directly to Joint Aid Management (Jam) and FoodForward SA (FFSA), with a focus on children and shelters. Collectively they work with organisations throughout South Africa and feed over 500,000 people daily.
Select stores will also start introducing Feed the Nation collection trolleys in stores for local welfare and charity organisations to help feed people in the store’s immediate community.
DHL and Unitrans will provide logistical support to the campaign, and some suppliers have already donated to support the campaign. Willowton Group, manufacturers of leading cooking oil brand Sunfoil, has already donated 34,000 litres of cooking oil, as well as 68,000kg of maize meal and rice. Pick n Pay calling on other partners to get involved.
Local celebrities – including the DHL Stormers rugby team – have also joined to share the #PnPFeedTheNation message.
Isak Pretorius, group executive director: Jam International, commented, “It is the vulnerable communities of our nation who stand to be most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. They are faced with great uncertainty and are extremely ill-equipped to sustain themselves, leaving them at risk to secondary effects such as food insecurity.”
Andy Du Plessis, managing director of FoodForward SA, said, “The food will address short-term hunger, but also acts as a catalyst for social change in vulnerable communities. We work with verified charities that focus on education, orphans and vulnerable children, people living with HIV/Aids and TB, the aged, unemployed youth, and abused women."
