#HelpThyNeighbour: Alberton HELP donations collected at Mall of the South

The Alberton HELP Forum collected pre-owned clothing, shoes and children’s toys last month that were donated with love by Mall of the South (MOTS) shoppers through the mall’s #HelpThyNeighbour project.

The donations were collected by the Alberton Lions and distributed to Amcare, Tutela Alberton clothes, and a food bank that, in return, distributed the items to those less privileged in the community.

MOTS’s #HelpThyNeighbour initiative was launched in 2018 in conjunction with South of Johannesburg Business and Tourism (SOJO) as a platform to bring the community, Johannesburg South businesses, shoppers, and partners together to provide support and assistance to NPOs that service the community.

“We have a dedicated #HelpThyNeighbour donation box near the centre management office where shoppers can drop off donations for the community. Since its inception, the initiative has achieved successful donation drives that include stationery, water, food, and clothing drives, and we have been fortunate to help numerous NPOs,” explained Hester Smith, the centre manager at Mall of the South.

“We thank our Mall of the South community for their continued support of our #HelpThyNeighbour project. Through the support of our shoppers, we can extend a helping hand to the various community organisations dedicated to helping the less fortunate.

“In 2021, we collected donations valued at over R600 000. They were handed to the Alberton HELP forum. The wonderful work we can do as a centre would not be possible without the help of our shoppers and business partners,” said Smith.

“On behalf of the Alberton HELP Forum, I thank Mall of the South and the community members for their amazing donations of pre-owned clothing. The #HelpThyNeighbour project has been an absolute blessing to many in Alberton and the surrounding areas,” said Tammy du Plooy of the forum.

What is the Alberton HELP Forum?

Helping Empower the Less Privileged, also known as HELP, has functioned successfully over the past six years as a networking platform with the vision ‘Together we are making a difference by increasing service through networking’.

Their mission is to bring together the various service and social organisations operating in and around Alberton under one umbrella to foster a culture of co-operation and collaboration between them because working together and sharing everyone’s efforts and knowledge will enable the varied organisations to be more effective in helping to uplift the less privileged.