Help fight hunger this Mandela Day with Checkers Sixty60 and Meals on Wheels

14 July 2025 | Social Responsibility

Every winter, millions of South Africans go to bed hungry. Meals on Wheels sees this daily - a parent skipping meals so their child can eat, or an elderly neighbour quietly asking if there’s “just a little something” left.

This Mandela Day, one simple act can make a real difference: from 14-18 July you can help by donating non-perishable food items to Meals on Wheels via the Checkers Sixty60 platform (web or app). Checkers will match every donation and refund your delivery fee.

This initiative has collected food to the value of almost R2.7 million since launching four years ago - that’s over 207,000 cans of baked beans or more than 150,000 packets of rice.

“Previous contributions from our Mandela Day partnership with Checkers Sixty60 have kept some Meals on Wheels branches running for up to three months - and in some areas, the support has sustained operations for as long as a year,” says Gershon Naidoo, Programmes Director for Meals on Wheels South Africa.

“As food insecurity continues to rise - so does our goal for this year. With your support, we hope to reach even more people.”

Donate from anywhere in South Africa by opening the Sixty60 platform (web or app), typing one of the three listed locations - Meals on Wheels Plumstead, Meals on Wheels Gillitts or Meals on Wheels Yeoville - into the delivery address bar and placing your order. A dedicated ‘Deliver Kindness’ section in the app highlights the most-needed grocery items, helping your donation go even further.

"Uplifting the communities we serve is central to our purpose, and tackling food insecurity remains a key focus of our sustainability efforts. Through our partnership with Meals on Wheels, and thanks to the incredible generosity of our Sixty60 customers, we’re seeing just how powerful collective action can be," - Sanjeev Raghubir, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Shoprite Group.

Meals on Wheels operates 173 kitchens across all nine provinces in South Africa, collectively providing more than 200,000 meals daily to individuals who need them most.