Apr 2, 2013
Many schools and libraries in South Africa continue to experience a serious shortage of books, due to a lack of sufficient funds. These educational institutions accordingly struggle to supply their communities with proper reading material needed to improve literacy in young and old alike. The RSG/KKNK Book Collection campaign addresses this shortage by collecting books for underprivileged communities.
The campaign, now in its fifteenth year, has through the years collected and distributed more than a million books, and in 2012 the public’s generous donations saw 56 404 books amassed!
Shoprite and Checkers have always been on the foreground in supporting various campaigns aimed at furthering the education of our country’s children. In support of the 2013 RSG/KKNK Book Collection campaign, Shoprite and Checkers supermarkets countrywide are providing collection points for books customers no longer use.
The public is invited to contribute to the campaign by donating all types of books – fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, children’s literature, encyclopaedias and reference books, old and new – till 30 April 2013. The books can be deposited into branded golden trolleys located at the entrance to the stores.
All books collected during this time will be sorted and distributed to needy schools, libraries and community organizations by the Vryburgers Diensorganisasie.
British poet and historian, Thomas Babington Macaulay, said: I would rather be a poor man living in an attic filled with books, than a king who does not love reading. And with that sentiment Shoprite and Checkers appeal to all to donate as many books as possible so that the lives of young and old can be enriched with the knowledge and joy found on the pages of books.