Tue Feb 11 09:51:55 UTC 2014
As part of its response to a social media trend sweeping the country known as #Neknominations Shoprite Checkers announced last week that it is adding 10 additional soup trucks to its existing fleet of Mobile Soup Kitchen units to feed an additional four million people.
After what started as an Australian social media experiment encouraging binge drinking, South African Brett Lindeque is credited for transforming the craze into a filmed corporate social investment challenge that is gathering pace on social media. Random acts of kindness are being used to uplift and assist people in need, with participants then nominating others to participate and “pay it forward” within a 24 hour deadline.
After receiving a nomination from a competitor, Shoprite Checkers responded with a R15,000 donation to the Blikkiesdorp 4 Hope Project to refurbish their recently vandalized library. The cash donation will help the project which has been influential in relocating residents evicted from elsewhere in the Mother City.
Upping the ante, Shoprite Checkers announced that they will also be adding 10 new soup trucks to their fleet, bringing the total number of Mobile Soup Kitchens to 22, and extending the reach of their feeding programme to an estimated eight million people this year.
Shoprite has distributed more than 16 million cups of soup to needy South Africans around the country to date. The Mobile Soup Kitchens distribute nutritional soup and bread in times of disaster such as floods or fires, when the mobile units are deployed to offer relief in the most affected areas.
The Shoprite feeding programme aims to distribute meals to the poorest communities with a focus on children and senior citizens, as well as thousands of families affected by job losses. The project is made possible through long term partnership with Royco, Albany, Mercedes, Toyota, Volkswagen, and UD Trucks.
Instead of nominating the customary two parties to continue with the random acts of kindness, Shoprite and Checkers have decided to challenge 10 leading brands in the country to continue with the campaign. These brands include Coca-Cola, All Gold, Simba, Clover, Sunlight, Huletts, Kellogg’s, Five Roses, Pampers and Ricoffy. So far All Gold, Clover, Sunlight, Kellogg’s, Pampers and Five Roses have responded to the Facebook video challenge and have already contributed over R125,000 in assistance to various community projects, with many more set to benefit as the challenge was extended to their ad agencies and service providers alike.
Watch the Neknomination videos here:
Shoprite and Checkers
All Gold
Sunlight
Pampers
Kellogg's
Clover
Five Roses
Read more on the Blikkiesdorp 4 Hope Project.
Additional information on Shoprite Mobile Soup Kitchens
The Mobile Soup Kitchens allow Shoprite to reach the poorest areas in South Africa and distribute warm, hearty food to those in need. With inception in March 2009, there were only two Mobile Soup Kitchen units serving Gauteng and the North West Province. Later that year, eight more trucks were added to the number, allowing more people to be reached in other disadvantaged communities.
With the addition of the ten new soup trucks, the fleet is deployed as follows across South Africa: two in the Western Cape, three in the Eastern Cape, 2 in the Free State, three in KwaZulu-Natal, three in Gauteng, two in Mpumalanga, four in Limpopo and three in North West.
Shoprite and Checkers are committed making the best use of its resources in order to assist in uplifting and alleviating the suffering of communities in need. The Shoprite Group takes its social responsibility to heart and wishes to provide South Africans with more than just high-quality goods at affordable prices.
Shoprite’s Mobile Soup Kitchen aims to not only offer a cup of soup, but to provide a meal of hope.