Inspired by customer donations in excess of R1.7 million to its in-store Act for Change Fund, the Shoprite Group is making it easier for shoppers to support organisations that are assisting the most vulnerable in local communities.

Now when customers donate R5 or more to the Act For Change Fund at the till point in any Shoprite, Checkers or Usave nationally, the funds collected will go to vetted beneficiary organisations involved in Covid-19 relief efforts in the province where the donation was made. 

The Group heeded President Ramaphosa’s call in March 2020 to support the Solidarity Fund. Customer contributions, together with the retailer’s R2 million donation, raised more than R3.7 million in total for the Solidarity Fund.

“Following this success we wanted to give customers the opportunity to donate to organisations specifically supporting their communities. For the first time money collected via the Act for Change Fund will now go to multiple charities simultaneously,” says Lunga Schoeman, CSI Manager for the Shoprite Group.

Meals on Wheels is the Act For Change Fund’s new beneficiary organisation in Gauteng, where it has provided meals to over 400 000 beneficiaries since the start of the lockdown. 

“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the poorest of the poor in ways that many of us do not fully grasp,” explains Gershon Naidoo, Programme Director for Meals on Wheels. “Our partnership with the Shoprite Group will help us to deliver hope to so many more.”

Operation Hunger is the recipient of donations to the Act For Change Fund in Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Some 4 000 families have benefited from their Feed a Family campaign, a direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Through the generous donations of ordinary South Africans, we are afforded the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of many people,” says Sandy Bukula, interim CEO of Operation Hunger.

The Act For Change Fund’s other beneficiary organisations include Gift of the Givers (North West, Free State and Northern Cape), SA Red Cross Society (Eastern Cape and Western Cape) and Rise Against Hunger (KwaZulu-Natal).

The Shoprite Group manages the Fund on behalf of its customers and all donations are paid over to the selected beneficiary organisations. There are no administrative costs. 

In addition to collecting for Covid-19 relief efforts, the Group - in the face of South Africa’s growing hunger crisis - has since the start of the national lockdown served more than 11.3 million meals valued at over R35 million through its surplus food donations and mobile soup kitchens.