Stay apart, but support together with Halls and Buscor

Halls continues showing care

Halls Fresh Produce is a 130-year-old business with its roots in the Lowveld and is invested in the wellbeing of their people and the communities that they operate in.

At a time when it became clear that the effects of the lockdown measures announced by government to curb the spread of Covid-19 were going to be more severe than initially expected, the Halls team stepped up to play a part in alleviating the economic hardship that was affecting the lives of the people around them.

“The challenge for the change required in all our behaviours came from a limited access to understanding how the virus transmits and impacts people. We believed that providing as much knowledge as we could to our people as well as the people in our communities would assist us all in changing our day-to-day behaviour and limit Covid-19 transmission. This we believe was a role we could play as a responsible corporate citizen,” said Tracey Davies, CEO of Halls Fresh Produce.

Having realised the real and immediate risks of Covid-19 earlier in the year through their experience in their offices in China, the business began communicating healthcare messages to all its employees across the globe, and started the training of their staff on how to limit transmission of CovidD-19 and provided the means to sanitise and socially distance.  The operations across the globe adjusted to staggered-shift work systems and small limited-contact teams and have been able to maintain a steady flow of fruit throughout their operations.

But their care did not end there.

“The Halls team is deeply empathetic to those who have been impacted by this pandemic, and so we created a fund to assist our communities who are experiencing hardship as a result of this crisis. We called the fund Staying Apart. Supporting Together. 

“Together with partners such as Buscor, who we are very grateful to for the assistance, we have been able to reach out to destitute families by delivering comprehensive food parcels to them,” Tracey said.

Halls also developed a Covid-19 information booklet and more than 15 000 of these have been distributed so far. The booklet was developed in six languages, in an effort to make the information understandable to as many communities as possible. One of the distribution channels for the booklet is with the delivery of food parcels. The booklet has also been recently updated to include the latest lockdown regulations.

“The Halls leadership team wanted to create a mechanism for ourselves and our stakeholders to play a part in alleviating the great hardship that we are witnessing in our communities and across the globe. We invited all our employees to participate in the “Staying Apart. Supporting together” fund and we have maintained momentum throughout the lockdown thanks to financial contributions and the support in packing and gathering food parcels to deliver to the most vulnerable communities.”

Tracey made special mention of Ms Nora Fakude, chairperson of Buscor, who has been working with Leigh Green, Halls marketing manager, to make sure that funds are used in a way to best serve those in need.

“Every small contribution – in whatever form possible – makes a difference. I am inspired by the empathy and generosity that has been shown by our Halls team and stakeholders. We are working together to keep this initiative going and delivering not only food but hope to the communities that are experiencing hunger.”

Halls’ Staying Apart, Supporting Together fund

Employees from the Halls Fresh Produce group worldwide were invited to take part in setting up a fund to relieve the pressure on communities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fund, “HFP Staying Apart. Supporting Together”, was started with contributions from the Halls executive team. Employees can contribute to the fund anonymously and it is completely voluntary. The company has always matched the contributions made by employees. Those who are not able to make financial contributions have been encouraged to get involved in the packing and distribution of parcels.

“We understand that all our employees have their own set of circumstances and as such will have different means of contributing, so it is important to note that this is not an obligatory process,” Tracey said.

“We hope that in this small way we are able to support the most vulnerable. We thank our Halls employees across the globe for contributing,” Tracey concluded.

Help us help our people

What started out as part of a national drive to provide food to people in need during the Covid-19 pandemic, has developed into a firm partnership between two stalwarts of the Lowveld: Halls and Buscor.

After delivering 2 552 parcels to 15 312 people in need in the Lowveld, Halls is appealing to Lowvelders to support the programme.

“We have been receiving enough donations and support to deliver 2 552 comprehensive food parcels to destitute families in Mganduzweni, Jerusalem, Masoyi, Mahushu, Mkhuhlu, Msogwoba, Matsulu, Oakley, Nkomazi, Lekazi, Mataffin, Woodhouse, Phumlani and Hopeville so far,” said Leigh Green, Halls marketing manager, who also heads up the project.

“Although the relaxation of disaster-management regulations now allows people to go back to work, we do not expect the need to decrease soon. The effect of the lockdown on the economy is very real. People have been unable to work and therefore unable to provide food for their families. There still is a huge backlog to catch up on and, although we are in the fortunate position to assist, we do need more support,” she said.

Leigh says there are very clear guidelines for the use of the funds and the deliveries are not just a drop-off.

“We are dealing with food and with the dignity of people – and we respect that.

“Destitute families are identified by the Department of Social Development’s social workers and when we start loading food for a delivery, we already have a verified list of beneficiaries that we will be delivering to. We also keep proper records and can supply a list of the families that we have delivered to. We believe this is the proper way to do it. It is not just for the sake of good order, but also for complete transparency,” she said.

“Together with Ms Norah Fakude, chairperson of Buscor, we do proper planning to try and bring relief to our communities. The partnership works very well, because the partners, and their employees, really want to make a difference.”

People who want to support this relief effort can contact Leigh Green on 066-492-7003 or email leigh@halls.co.za for more information.