Help poor families hit hardest by pandemic
Some families are struggling to settle their children’s school uniform accounts, leaving their little ones with no choice but to attend school without full school uniform
As many people globally are bearing the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic, and now reeling from the latest blow of this new lockdown, our local Pep stores urge residents to support its charity initiative (Lay-By Buddy) initiated to help those hit hardest by the pandemic.
As part of the clothing retailer’s initiative, Pep store on Commisssioner Street in the Boksburg CBD encourages residents to make a difference in poor families’ lives by contributing towards their lay-bys, particularly for baby and children’s clothing, school uniforms and winter clothing.
According to the store manager at the CBD branch, Morris Shabalala, the Lay-By Buddy initiative was early last year designed to create an opportunity for benefactors to help struggling families by paying off their clothes on lay-by at Pep stores.
“This process is simple. You can walk into our Pep stores and ask for the lists of lay-byes that still needed to be paid and choose who, and how many people, you want to pay for, especially for back-to-school items and winter clothing,” explained Shabalala.
Shabalala pointed out that the vast majority of their customers come from vulnerable communities, such as informal settlements and townships in Ramaphosa, Holomisa, Delmore and Reiger Park, with people who are living below the poverty line.
You also have the option to help via in-store donations or online with a system for anyone to buy a voucher that will be sent to a random lay-by account holder. The vouchers can be bought on the Pep website or in stores, with a minimum voucher of R10.
Once someone’s lay-by is paid off, the lay-by customers then receive a call or SMS with a reference number to collect their items in this store.
“I also want to thank the generous people who have walked into our branch to give their hard-earned fortune to good causes, paying lay-bys for other customers particularly during this tough January.”
