Annual WinterHope charity drive underway

The annual national WinterHOPE 2022 campaign kicked off on May 23 for its 20th consecutive year.

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The main goal of WinterHOPE is to help vulnerable urban dwellers across the country in a responsible way to survive the cold of winter.

WinterHOPE will collect clothing, food and donations at more than 140 collection points countrywide and distribute them to those in need in the same communities. This campaign runs for seven weeks from May 23 to 30 June, 2022.

Leona Pienaar, CEO of the national NPO Mould Empower Serve (MES), which is leading the initiative this year, explains: “With the WinterHOPE caring campaign, we want to support people in need through winter.

Furthermore, it also encourages the public to donate to responsible service organisations that do charitable work. The donations of food, clothing, daily necessities and much-needed financial contributions can then be used for the benefit of people in need.”

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Pienaar explains that a recent study by U-Turn and MES Cape Town found that an estimated R23m in cash was given directly to homeless people living in Cape Town over 12 months.

“Unfortunately, in many cases, the cash maintains drug addiction and undermines the good work of rehabilitation programmes.

While we encourage the public to contribute to the needy, we ask that they do it responsibly by giving to organisations that can make a sustainable difference,” said Pienaar.

“By supporting WinterHOPE 2022, the extreme need in our society can be addressed responsibly by the participating knowledgeable, credible and dedicated organisations.

WinterHOPE is a national partnership initiative by four NPOs, which include MES (Kempton Park, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Gqeberha), PEN (Pretoria), Towers of Hope (Bloemfontein) and His Hands (Durban).”

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During the previous campaign in 2021, the campaign partners collected 1 472 blankets, allocated 1 305 shelters and received 1 364 shopping bags of food at collection points across South Africa.

“This year is a milestone year for WinterHOPE in that it is our 20th campaign. We hope to see more support this year than ever before, as the need is great, especially after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our society.

The pandemic has led to many more people needing help. We call on the public to open their hearts and share hope with those who are hopeless this winter,” added Anelle Erasmus, campaign organiser.

“Being part of a national movement like WinterHOPE makes serving and journeying with poor and vulnerable people during the cold winter months just so much easier.

WinterHOPE enables us to be proactive in facing the challenges during this season and to handle the various crises amongst our people as and when they occur,” said De la Harp le Roux, Towers of Hope.

“PEN’s mission is to break the chains of poverty by instilling purpose, power and dignity.

“We have an ecosystem of care, which focuses on physical, educational, occupational, emotional and spiritual well-being,” said Dr Cobie Lombard, a representative from PEN.

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“This can only be achieved when we meet the basic needs of our beneficiaries.

The winter months render our communities even more vulnerable and it is only with the support of the generous public that we can reach out effectively to those in dire need of warmth and nutrition.

“The WinterHOPE campaign is an opportunity to use our existing platforms to increase the outreach into our communities and enable those who are more fortunate to contribute to a respectable charitable campaign.”

The WinterHOPE partners distribute all the items collected to the communities in need living within the regions they serve.

For more information about the various drop-off points available throughout South Africa visit https://winterhoop.org/drop-off-points/.

Monetary donations are also welcome and help these organisations meet the most basic needs during the winter. All donations qualify for 18A tax receipts. Email winterhoop@mes.org.za for more information on how to qualify for an 18A tax receipt.

Banking Details:
Account Holder: WinterHOOP Bank: ABSA Branch code: 632 005
Account type: Savings
Account no: 906 892 5251
Reference: Your name, surname, contact number
WinterHOPE is proud to have RSG and Beeld as partners for this year’s campaign.

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