MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Giving Back to the Community

By

Eveready Employees at the Missionvale Care Centre

Eveready South Africa (Pty) Ltd recently embarked on a campaign to give back to the needy charities of the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage areas. The “Eveready Cares” campaign formed part of the companies’s social investment initiatives and acted as an employee engagement exercise.

Each department at Eveready was asked to pick a charity which they wanted to support, after which Eveready contacted each of the organisations and identified what items were most needed for the charity in terms of clothes, food items etc. Boxes were set up in the cafeteria where employees could drop off the items identified by the charities. In this way, all employees had the chance to support any of the charities even if it wasn’t chosen by their department. After three weeks, each department took their collection to the charity of their choosing. This was a great way to get all staff involved and get them working together towards a common goal which benefits not only themselves or the company but the greater community.

Apart from all the items collected, Eveready also wanted to raise money for the various charities. This was done in a creative way which was beneficial to all staff members and the company. Unused office equipment and furniture as well as anything which staff members wanted to sell were put on auction within the company and raised over R8 000 which was split between the charities.

A total of 13 charities were chosen, these were Isithembiso Babies Home, the Missionvale Care Centre, Project Hope, Bongweni Charity, Hope Clinic, Operation Smile, Vistarus, Erica House, Save a Pet, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Khayalethu Youth Centre, SPCA and Shepard’s field.

The campaign even inspired staff members to embark on their own fund raising initiatives where extra money was raised and used to buy appliances and equipment needed by the charity which would contribute to their sustainability.

Eveready Human Resources Manager, Charles Du Toit said, “It’s very important to us to help those less fortunate, it is a cause very close to all our hearts. This initiative helped us to give back and to boost company morale and the feeling of unity among our staff members and all the departments at Eveready. The response from the charities was truly heart warming which shows us that our efforts were greatly appreciated.”

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.