Keeping the Community Warm MyZA

As freezing cold weather bites the country, Nissan South Africa employees have embarked on a blanket-collecting drive to help keep under-privileged community members warm this winter.

Nissan SA’s corporate and general affairs director Wonga Mesatywa officially handed over the blankets on Tuesday 21 June to welfare organisations located in the vicinity of the company’s Rosslyn-based manufacturing plant. They include Boitumelo Community Project, Bushabezwe Aids and Charity Home, Good Hope Community Centre, Leamogetswe Safety Home, Pelonolo Special School, St. John the Baptist Catholic Clinic, Tumelong Mission and Wolmer Community Project.

Said Mesatywa: “Many of our employees live in the surrounding areas where these welfare organisations are based. We feel we have a duty to extend a helping hand to the greater community, especially in times of need.”

The blankets will assist some 750 beneficiaries from the various organisations during the cold winter months.

“Nissan SA is a strong presence within our community and we are extremely grateful to its employees for their generosity in helping the less fortunate by donating blankets and clothing,” said Stephen Nell from Wolmer Community Project in Pretoria North and Matlakala Makhubela from Leamogetswe Safety Home in Atteridgeville.

Nissan’s winter relief project has been running successfully for several years. It is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility programme aimed at building community relations and making a difference in people’s lives.

Nissan Blanket Drive — As freezing cold weather bites the country, Nissan South Africa employees have embarked on a blanket-collecting drive to help keep under-privileged community members warm this winter.

More about the Charities:

Boitumelo Community Project, based in Soshanguve and headed by Sophie Msiza, looks after 27 orphaned, abused and abandoned children.
Bushabezwe Aids and Charity Home (BACH) operates from Emthunzini Primary School in Mamelodi West. BACH is a non profit organisation which was formed in 2005 by a group of five Mamelodi West women, who saw a need to make a difference in the lives of orphans, vulnerable and destitute people. BACH provides a variety of aid for their main beneficiaries: orphans, vulnerable children and child-headed families. The organisation also provides support groups for children and for people living with HIV/AIDS.
The Good Hope Community Centre is situated in Winterveldt, Tshwane. Its main goal is removing impoverished children from the streets. The centre helps these children with education, providing them with shelter, food and some life comforts. A ‘drop-in’ centre was also established in order to assist poorer communities with food and to help alleviate poverty.
Situated in Atteridgeville, the Leamogetswe Safety Home was established in 1999 in response to the rising numbers of homeless, vulnerable children and youth in Pretoria and surrounding areas. Providing food and shelter for approximately 65 children, the home also operates a crèche which caters for children in and around the community. Leamogetswe not only shelters abandoned, abused, neglected and orphaned children but also provides skills training for older members of the community through various out-reach programmes.
Pelonolo Special School caters for learners with mental disabilities from less fortunate families near Hammanskraal in Tshwane. The school provides educational training in sports and occupational areas, providing them with the opportunity to become contributing citizens in their communities. The school also assists with meals and transport.
The St. John the Baptist Catholic Clinic is situated in Odi District’s Old Age Home, which was founded in the 1980s to care for the impoverished aged in the area. This was followed by the establishment of St John the Baptist Clinic in 1997. Supported by donations from international and local partners, the clinic receives around approximately 1, 500 patients a month and another 4, 500 are assisted through community outreach visits. Besides medical care, the clinic also provides food to patients and AIDS orphans, many of whom suffer from malnutrition.
The Tumelong Mission, founded in 1939, was established in order to provide physical relief and skills to the needy and vulnerable to overcome hunger, poverty and unemployment. It is committed to the creation of a healthy, sustainable, HIV/AIDS free society and to fight poverty and unemployment. The Mission’s work reaches over 109 communities within the Diocese of Pretoria, under the direction of the Right Reverend Dr Jo Seoka, Bishop of Pretoria (Chairman of the Governing Body).
The Wolmer Community Project – a community based organisation – has a variety of out-reach programmes that are designed to help children, youths and adults better their circumstances and escape the cycle of poverty in which they find themselves. Programmes include a pre-primary school for Grade-R’s and after school care for older children; mountain bike and youth club for teenagers and older youths; adult literacy classes; women empowerment through skills training; assistance for the elderly; daily food distribution; and the provision of food parcels and clothes to the 265 families registered with the project.