The ‘21 Years of Giving Back’ campaign inspired more than 11,500 MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet cardholders to put forward their nominations of the causes close to their hearts and give them the chance to substantially boost their fundraising. Thanks to these customers’ efforts, schools and libraries will now be refurbished, early childhood centres will be established and equipped, volunteer firefighters will upgrade their base, sustainable food gardens will be established, new family strengthening programmes will be initiated, children with vision problems will be receiving new spectacles and more.
“The 21 big winners of the campaign are truly representative of the variety and the breadth of what’s important to our MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet cardholders,” says Pieter Twine, general manager, MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet. “It has been fantastic to see more grassroots projects coming to the fore, where the donation of R100,000 can really make a great difference to their work. Our panel of judges had strict criteria for evaluating the many worthy nominations, which included assessing organisational impact and sustainability, as well as looking for beneficiaries which are well-aligned to our brand ethos and the concerns of our customers. That search resulted in a wonderful spectrum of winners, big and small, working across all South Africa’s provinces with different, important mandates. It’s been a wonderful celebration of 21 years of customer-driven giving back, and we thank our cardholders, the winners and all the nominees for their enthusiastic participation.”
One of the judges of the '21 Years of Giving Back' campaign was Melanie Burke, social entrepreneur and chair of board of directors of both StreetSmart South Africa and Symphonia for South Africa NPC. Burke said: “It’s a real privilege to be part of a community-minded campaign that connects cardholders with the opportunity to support a cause they care about. The 21 winners can now go forward and use the funds to make a difference in schools, communities and for the planet, which ultimately benefits us all.”
