Woolies employees volunteer to grow school’s permaculture garden
They worked side by side with learners and educators to dig new beds, mulch, compost, plant and water.
A volunteer group of Woolworths employees from Bushbuckridge and Acornhoek stores rolled up their sleeves last week and went to work with grade 6 learners of Sesete Primary School in their permaculture food garden.
This was done in celebration of this year’s World Food Day, which urges action that promotes making healthy diets available to all people in the world.
Situated on the way to Manyeleti Game Reserve near Acornhoek, where there is a high level of unemployment and illiteracy, Sesete Primary School has 658 learners. They started their food garden in 2016 and have attended three EduPlant workshops to learn permaculture to grow a sustainable food garden.
Sesete Primary School already has a food garden, which provides fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit for their school’s feeding scheme and the learners are able to take any surplus home with them.
“This is not the first time that my store colleagues participated in an EduPlant programme volunteer day,” Windy Twala, store manager of Woolies Hazyview said. “It is a wonderful opportunity to go out into our community on World Food Day, join the kids in getting our hands dirty and learn all about permaculture food gardening while helping to expand the garden and boost their school’s sustainable food production.”
They worked side by side with learners and educators to dig new beds, mulch, compost, plant and water. In addition to the volunteer time and “sweat equity” from their local Woolies stores’ employees, the retailer also donated vital resources like compost, seedlings and gardening tools to Sesete Primary School.
As part of the Woolworths Employee Community Involvement Programme, Woolworths store employees are volunteering at ten schools across the country to recognise the importance of local, sustainably-produced, good food and help them take their food gardens to the next level.
In an effort to improve food security in various communities across South Africa, Woolworths has partnered with the EduPlant Programme for the last fifteen years and has been the main funder of the programme with a contribution of R36,6 million to date. EduPlant, initiated and managed by Food & Trees for Africa, is the country’s leading food gardening initiative. Since its inception the programme has facilitated more than 770 permaculture food gardening workshops, reaching over 61 000 educators and thousands of schools. This year 86% of the schools participating in the programme have started food gardens.
“The World Food Day volunteer day creates an opportunity for colleagues at Woolies stores around the country to take action and make a difference in their communities,” says Zinzi Mgolodela, director of corporate affairs at Woolworths, “Every day, our colleagues work with commitment to make good food that is sustainably produced available through our national network of stores. This is a way for them to give up some of their time to have a different kind of good food experience, which is really inspiring as it is improving the lives of South Africans in need.”
