Sun International rises against hunger at GrandWest

Spirits ran high at GrandWest on International Mandela Day (18 July 2017) as some 1 400 volunteers from Sun International and other caring businesses united to Rise Against Hunger to commemorate the late Nelson Mandela’s birthday. Amongst the volunteers were employees from GrandWest, The Table Bay and Golden Valley and members of the media. In packaging lines organised in the Market Hall, teams worked busily for 67 minutes each to pack meal parcels for needy children. By the end of the day, 689 boxes, comprising 142 560 meals had been packed at GrandWest

The initiative, in collaboration with Rise Against Hunger (previously Stop Hunger Now), was part of a nationwide drive, with similar food packing events taking place simultaneously at three Sun International properties, The Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth, Time Square in Pretoria and the Wild Coast Sun in Port Edward, as well as four other venues across the country. The national target was to pack 3 million meals on the day.

Each meal box contains 36 meal bags which in turn contain six meals each. The contents are carefully planned to provide for the nutritional needs of children, including rice, soya, soup mix and a vitamin sachet containing 23 essential vitamins and minerals.

To commemorate this special day, volunteers who took part in the food packing drive at GrandWest placed their multi coloured handprints on special commemorative benches that will be placed all throughout the GrandWest Complex. These will serve as remembrance of this special day.

“Alleviating hunger is close to Sun International’s heart and GrandWest is privileged to have been involved in this exceptional food packaging initiative for the third consecutive year. We thank all of our volunteers who worked tirelessly to package meals. You have made a difference,” says Mervyn Naidoo, General Manager at GrandWest.

The 2017 food packing challenge was buoyed by the International Mandela Day event in 2015 when some 1.2 million meals were packed on one day. This was followed by the Follow the Sun meal packing drive in 2016 when just over 3 million meals were packed.  

Captions:

Elouise Matthys, PR and Promotions Manager at GrandWest, and Nikki Botha, Marketing Manager at GrandWest, joined the packing lines to pack meals for needy children as part of the Rise Against Hunger food packing initiative at GrandWest on International Mandela Day.

There was no shortage of cheer on the packing lines at the Rise Against Hunger food packing drive at GrandWest on International Mandela Day. Some 1 400 volunteers participated to packed meals for needy children.

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