SPAR SOUTH RAND – CSI INITIATIVES 2016

SPARROW SCHOOL

Our country continues to be plagued by unemployment and many of our young people being blocked from education due to finances. Since our first intake in 2013, SPAR South Rand have sponsored seven Assistant Chef Programmes. In partnership with Sparrow Schools FET College, 112 learners have successfully completed the programme. Here are some of the learner’s success stories:

Gugu Kunene is a 39 year old woman who has had “up’s and downs” in her life. Her mom was brutally murdered in 1998, and two years later she lost her dad through suicide. This “dark cloud” in her life forced her to be a single parent to her siblings at a very young age. This meant that she had to leave school and become the bread winner for her sisters and brothers, then losing one of her sisters to cancer was the last “blow” in whatever hope she had left.

She managed to dust herself off through the help of Ikageng (NGO) who later connected her to Sparrow FET College, and a bit of hope was restored back into her life. Her journey with Sparrow FET College started in October 2014 when she enrolled for an Assistant Chef Skills Programme at NQF Level 2. During her time at Sparrow FET College, she proved to be a competent and hard-working individual, which resulted in her being offered a full qualification in Professional Cookery at NQF level 4 in

January 2015. After all the hiccups in Gugu’s life, one would think she has had her share of hardship to last a lifetime, but life had more “knocks” in store for her. Gugu struggled with her health and that of her children’s while completing her studies at Sparrow FET College and was often absent and had to always spend time catching up. She was also was transferred to four different stores during her workplace experience for various reasons, e.g. because of her qualification, she was sometimes victimised by other staff members as she was seen as a “threat”.

Through it all, Gugu pushed and kept her head up. She completed her qualification and worked “tooth and nail” to prove her competency. In January 2016 she was offered permanent employment by Florida Junction SUPERSPAR, and is currently being trained to occupy a supervisory position. Through Sparrow FET College and SPAR, Gugu has been given a second chance in life. She is now able to change her family’s financial stance and provide for them like any mother would. Gugu is living evidence that Sparrow FET College, with the help of their funders is indeed a college for people who are going places. A person’s past is just that, the past! With the right mind set, attitude, and backing from a reputable institution like Sparrow FET College, we can all reach our highest potential.

Mduduzi Jiyane had no formal qualification before he enrolled with Sparrow FET College on their very first SPAR sponsored

Assistant Chef Skills Program at NQF Level 2 in July 2013. Prior to 2013 Mduduzi worked for a construction company on a part-time basis. This really frustrated him to a point that he was starting to give-up on life, as he worked ridiculous hours and the salary never matched his inputs.

He had a strong passion for cooking, but had no prior experience in it. Sparrow FET College realised Mduduzi’s dream of becoming a Chef by granting him an opportunity to enrol and study first on our Assistant Chef Skills Program at NQF Level 2 and later as he had excelled, we enrolled him on our Professional Cookery Learnership Program at NQF Level 4 in January 2015.

Mduduzi had his fair share of challenges in life, but faced them head-on. Today Mduduzi is a role model to his siblings, and has taught them that even the most “unrealistic” dreams can be attained if you put your mind to it. He is currently working at Park Station KWIKSPAR on a full-time basis as a baker and loves what he is doing. He believes that his dream of becoming Chef was going to remain a dream if it wasn’t for Sparrow FET College.

In 2015 South Rand had their first intake in Learners with Disability, these learners are currently completing the End User Computer Programme at SPARROW. They spent six months at the college and completed the last six months at our DC were they were placed in Various Departments.

MYSPAR.MYCOMMUNITY HERO

In Our MySPAR.MyCommunity initiative, The HR Department called upon the “heroes” within the SPAR South Rand DC. Employees who are involved in, or passionate about certain community projects were able to submit the details of their project to the HR Team. Together with Managing Director, Brett Botten we then award the “Community Hero” with a R10 000 cheque for their chosen community project.

This year six employees submitted motivations, and because it was difficult to decide on a winner, two cheques were handed over. One to Potters Haven, nominated by Magriet Van Jaarsveld and Magda Smit. Potters Haven situated in Ekurhuleni, is a place of safety/ foster home to children who have suffered some form of abuse. Children are provided with shelter, food, clothing and education. With the money they received from SPAR they paid for the kids’ 2016 school fees. The other

winner was Ngula Welfare Community Development, nominated by Susan Mahungele. This NPO focuses on community development issues. They identify progressive projects that are beneficial to the community and then assist through seeking sponsorships and investors. The project they selected to benefit from the SPAR donation is Nkhensani Day-Care for which building supplies were sourced from one of the Build it stores to repair the school’s roof.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose oneself in the service of others,” wrote Mahatma Gandhi. This is very true of the spirit reflected in these SPAR South Rand ‘heroes’ who contribute so much of their time and energy in assisting these valuable community initiatives.

VALUES UPDATE

When we launched our new values in 2015, one of SPAR South Rand’s interventions to promote the values was the introduction of our “Values Shout out Cards”. These cards are issued by Management to staff when they display values based behaviour. It can either be issued directly by the manager or staff can inform the manager of anyone who deserves the award. These cards are a form of employee recognition and includes the employee getting a R270 SPAR voucher, a shout out is sent out and the employee also gets their name added to our Values Hall of Fame. In our current financial year, we had 34 cards issued. Thanks to all our staff who continue to live out our company’s values.

SPAR SOUTH RAND – CSI INITIATIVES 2016(CONTINUED)

SPAR North Rand continues to support Arebaokeng Child Day Care Centre situated in Tembisa township. The centre looks after children affected and /or infected with HIV/Aids. Our sponsorships ensures that the facility continues to operate and offer day care services to 60 children under the age of seven as well as after school support for 121 children between the ages of seven and eighteen.

On 18 July 2016 the centre opened Arebaokeng Hospice , which is a member of the Hospice Organisation. The facility currently has six beds and is looking after five patients. Mam Flora and her team continue to be an example and a beacon of hope for the Tembisa community.

SPAR NORTH RAND – CSI INITIATIVES 2016

LIVING OUR VALUES

Our focus for 2016 was the value PASSION in terms of putting passion into action. During the course of the year we launched four themes: the first theme was living the passion, the second was passion for self, the third was passion for SPAR and the last theme for the year was passion for our community. This was based on the premise that in order to deliver on our promise, we must be passionate about what we do and be clear about why we do what we do as a

SPAR NORTH RAND – CSI INITIATIVES 2016(CONTINUED)

division. We’ve put emphasis on the value of family in terms of introducing activities and competitions in the distribution centre that encouraged our staff to work together, be creative together and have fun together in the workplace. This was evident during our Heritage Day events where each department was challenged to represent a SPAR country across the world showing their understanding of the SPAR Brand in that country, their tradition, language and cuisine. Each department had to work

together as a family, be creative and innovative in their approach as well as demonstrate passion on the day. Our intention is to integrate our values in everything that we do by encouraging our people to demonstrate our values as part of what we do on a daily basis as well as by giving individuals and teams a platform to live our values.

SPAR KwaZulu-Natal has focused on four CSI projects in 2016.

Izulu Orphans Project (founded in 2006) is a non-profit organization situated in a rural area on the outskirts of Empangeni specialising in providing home based care to families infected and affected by HIV/Aids. The organization has developed an orphan management system which records and tracks the progress and details of every orphan incorporating the severity of need and the GPS coordinates of each homestead. SPAR KZN assists feed 150 orphaned and destitute children on a daily basis from households with an income below R1 500 per month.

Gozololo is a day care facility supporting vulnerable children from destitute communities. This organisation currently supports about 950 children from three centres situated in the greater Durban area.

The centres provide a crèche and after care facilities where they help school going children with their school work and a hot meal. SPAR KZN supports Gozololo by providing them with dry groceries every month and perishables products on a weekly basis. SPAR KZN assisted Gozololo launch a vegetable garden in Umgababa as a self-sustainability project.

SPAR KZN, in partnership with Operation Hunger, provides a feeding scheme for destitute people living on the outskirts of Hammarsdale. Currently the feeding scheme feeds over 200 recipients on a daily basis. The next phase is to develop a vegetable garden which will contribute to the sustainability of the feeding scheme.

SPAR KZN sponsored the provision of training programmes run by the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf society in KZN. The intervention provided computer literacy programmes covering 90 blind and deaf persons on both their Durban and Pietermartizburg campuses. Computer literacy skills are essential for enhancing both employment and further educational opportunities to blind and deaf persons.

SPAR KZN – CSI INITIATIVES 2016

GOOD SPORTS

Bel Porto in Lansdowne is a school for children with intellectual and physical impairments. Many of the children that attend Bel Porto have been bullied, abused or neglected at home. The SPAR WC DC annual Bel Porto Sports Day is the Olympic Games of these kids’ calendar. And for the 30-plus SPAR volunteers every minute is worth its weight in gold. This year’s event was held on 17 March.

“We play netball, hokker (hockey) bocci (bowling) and soccer. The kids win every year! It’s all goals and high-fives and cries of ‘We Love SPAR’ and ‘SPAR Good for You!’ The soccer is the hands-down highlight and the kids sit around cheering as if their lives depend on it. The games are followed by a prize giving, the handing out of trophies and a lunch, all supplied by SPAR,” explains the event’s organizer, Charlene Mekel.

For the volunteers, as for the kids, it’s an unforgettable day. For Charlene, one moment stood out against many: “A little girl raced up to me and hugged me with all her strength. A teacher eventually had to pull her away. She was about seven years old with Down syndrome and she’d never seen me before. That kind of unconditional love makes all the hard work worth it – a hundred times over.”

SPRING INTO ACTION

DIY farming, wall gardens and a veggie starter pack: Root to Grow is proving that big things can grow from very small spaces.

Out the Box

There is no shorter distance from farm to fork than via your own home-grown veggie garden. And you don’t need a rambling smallholding either. You can grow veggies on a stoep or even in a high-rise flat. Pieter Strauss in collaboration with SPAR and Stark Ayres has put together a starter pack that has all you need to spring into action.

The pack comes in a square box, roughly half the size of a shoe box. Each pack contains a six-egg biodegradable cardboard holder filled with prepared potting soil; six small brown biodegradable envelopes containing six different types of veggie and herb seeds: tomato, beet, spinach, carrots, cabbage and parsley. Also included is a fun chart explaining how to prepare and plant the seeds. Simply add sunlight water and a whole lot of love.

The starter packs will be in SPAR stores across the Western Cape from mid-September as part of the SPAR- Stark Ayres Spring promotion.

In the box

Each box has a tear-off competition form which can be filled out with a child’s name and school and entered into a draw. The winning name receives a veggie garden for their school.

SPAR WESTERN CAPE – CSI INITIATIVES 2016

Message in a bottle

When it comes to urban permaculture it doesn’t get smarter than this: wall gardens are virtually free, water-wise, and look great. Taking it a step further, vertical food gardens are ultimately about growing food, and utilising otherwise unused vertical space to stack a lot of function into one simple system.

Root to Grow has started a school recycling initiative whereby children collect plastic two-litre soda bottles. These are cut in half and turned upside down, and hung so that the open neck of each bottle drains water into the one below. Each bottle is potted and seeded, creating a green screen to be proud of.

Planting the Future

Lathi-Tha School of Skills in Khayelitsha empowers kids with special needs by teaching them trades such as hairdressing, woodwork, bricklaying, sewing, and hospitality and office administration.

The school already has a fully equipped kitchen where the children are taught to cook and cater. An organic garden, approximately 3 500 square meters started by RTG and SPAR this year, will not only develop their gardening skills but will in time supply the school with enough veggies to sustain their feeding programme, and still provide for most of SPAR Khayelitsha’s organic veggie needs.

Watching their garden grow

Located in the heart of the largest fruit producing area in the Western Cape – Viljoenshoop in Grabouw - Maxonia Primary is currently fed from the 15 surrounding farms in the area. The most recent addition to the SPAR/RTG project, they are extremely excited about having their own vegetable garden and have eagerly started planting.

IN THE NAME OF MADIBA

2 000 loaves of bread, 800 tubs of butter, 700 of peanut butter and Bovril – each,

450 tins of apricot jam and 17 500 sandwiches. This Mandela Day the DC proved that by pulling together for a cause bigger than ourselves, we can make a difference.

SPAR EASTERN CAPE – CSI INITIATIVES 2016

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead” – Nelson Mandela