Soap and water reigns supreme when it comes to combatting the spread of the novel Covid-19 virus which is at the heart of the global Coronavirus pandemic – and Willowton Group and Pick n Pay School Club have resumed delivering donations of bars of soap to schools in need in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

“Although lockdown regulations have been eased and more and more learners are now returning to school, our president has urged us not to become complacent. Touching surfaces with one’s hands remains a way of transmitting this virus and we need to continue educating young South Africans about the importance of washing their hands. Soap and water will not only keep this virus in check but help to eradicate it from our shores,” says Deon Calthorpe, sales and marketing executive at Willowton Group.
 
Willowton Group has provided the soap while Pick n Pay School Club has ensured that the bars reach schools and vulnerable learners through its network of over 3,000 schools across the country.
 
Just eleven days before hard lockdown in March, 370,074 soaps reached classrooms across the country before schools closed. Deliveries resumed in August and the remaining bars of soaps will reach learners by the end of October.
 
According to Calthorpe, since the second wave of deliveries resumed at the end of July, the bars of soap were sent to various schools. Certain Pick n Pay stores also handed soap bars out to pensioners.
 
The partners are currently in the process of distributing the remaining bars of soap. “In the greater Johannesburg area, we are working with the independent owners of 20 Pick n Pay Market stores who have helped identify schools in lower-income areas where they also contribute to feeding schemes.
 
By the time this project ends in October, over 750,000 bars of soap worth around R5-million will have been supplied to young learners across the country. The vision is for over 400 schools to receive a bar of soap for each learner.   The focus is to reach schools and frail care centres in KwaZulu Natal, schools in the Western Cape and select schools in Gauteng.
 
Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at Pick n Pay, says their School Club was the perfect way to distribute the hundreds of bars of soap donated by Willowton.
 
“Our School Club works closely with local communities and helps us reach more than two million learners annually with curriculum-aligned education material to support the learners' development. During the lockdown, we’ve intensified this support by providing food parcels and basic hygiene products. Through this partnership with Willowton, we will reach 750,000+ children and have helped reinforce that good hand hygiene habits are a key ingredient in fighting the spread of this virus,” says Ackerman-Berman.
 
Each school part of Pick n Pay School Club network was able to download a digital poster from www.schoolclub.co.za for printing and erecting in the school.