Happiness is delivered to children in Diepsloot

Celebrating the spirit of goodwill saw 13 000 pairs of school shoes being delivered to various schools in Diepsloot ahead of Christmas and New Year.

This was thanks to Steyn City’s Delivering Happiness to Diepsloot, which is in its seventh year, as this year’s extra special factor was an effort to ensure that Diepsloot primary schoolchildren don’t have to walk to school barefoot anymore.

Steyn City Properties CEO, Giuseppe Plumari said, “Although we have undertaken several initiatives at Steyn City to assist our neighbours, including job creation, our artists’ programme and skills development projects, this is by far our favourite. It’s our way of giving back to the children of Diepsloot, many of whose parents and caregivers work at our parkland residence.”

As part of their #PledgeAPair project, Steyn City invited community members to become a #SoleMate by donating shoes through its website.

Plumari stated that it was alarming to see how the simple lack of school shoes can affect a learner. “Every year, many children are forced to walk distances, come rain or shine, negatively impacting on their education.”

Also present was Gift of the Givers, who were accompanied by radio personality, Thabo ‘TboTouch’ Molefe and soccer legend, Marks Maponyane.

“I am very proud to be a part of such an initiative as I have supported it for the past three years. I believe that no child should be born poor or die poor. With these school shoes we are giving them extra motivation to want to go to school and have a great future,” Molefe said.

Plumari explained that another noteworthy donation came from Gift of the Givers, as it is an enormous privilege to partner with the organisation. “It is so well-known for its giant scope and capabilities, which has exceptional skills and experience in logistics of this scale.”

Gift of the Givers’ Roslyn Toontas stated that the organisation was pleased to be able to participate in such an initiative. “We have worked extensively in this area and the community at large is very close to our hearts. Gift of the Givers’ generous donation included 11 000 pairs of socks, 11 000 packages of instant noodles, 11 000 packages of nutritional cereal and 3 000 sweet packs [including a toy] for younger schoolchildren,” she said.

The organisation also gifted 150 food parcels for the ground staff and security at Steyn City. Moreover, it organised for its fleet of large-ton trucks to be made available for the collection and delivery of donations, as well as additional manpower.

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