Social media craze inspires Shoprite Checkers
Shoprite has distributed more than 16 million cups of soup to needy South Africans around the country to date.
As part of its response to a social media trend sweeping the country known as #Neknominations Shoprite Checkers announced last week that it is adding 10 additional soup trucks to its existing fleet of Mobile Soup Kitchen units to feed an additional four million people.
After what started as an Australian social media experiment encouraging binge drinking, South African Brett Lindeque is credited for transforming the craze into a filmed corporate social investment challenge that is gathering pace on social media. Random acts of kindness are being used to uplift and assist people in need, with participants then nominating others to participate and “pay it forward” within a 24 hour deadline.
After receiving a nomination from a competitor, Shoprite Checkers responded with a R15,000 donation to the Blikkiesdorp 4 Hope Project to refurbish their recently vandalized library. The cash donation will help the project which has been influential in relocating residents evicted from elsewhere in the Mother City.
Upping the ante, Shoprite Checkers announced that they will also be adding 10 new soup trucks to their fleet, bringing the total number of Mobile Soup Kitchens to 22, and extending the reach of their feeding programme to an estimated eight million people this year.
Shoprite has distributed more than 16 million cups of soup to needy South Africans around the country to date. The Mobile Soup Kitchens distribute nutritional soup and bread in times of disaster such as floods or fires, when the mobile units are deployed to offer relief in the most affected areas.
The Shoprite feeding programme aims to distribute meals to the poorest communities with a focus on children and senior citizens, as well as thousands of families affected by job losses. The project is made possible through long term partnership with Royco, Albany, Mercedes, Toyota, Volkswagen, and UD Trucks.
Instead of nominating the customary two parties to continue with the random acts of kindness, Shoprite and Checkers have decided to challenge 10 leading brands in the country to continue with the campaign. These brands include Coca-Cola, All Gold, Simba, Clover, Sunlight, Huletts, Kellogg’s, Five Roses, Pampers and Ricoffy. So far All Gold, Clover, Sunlight, Kellogg’s, Pampers and Five Roses have responded to the Facebook video challenge and have already contributed over R125,000 in assistance to various community projects, with many more set to benefit as the challenge was extended to their ad agencies and service providers alike.
Read more on the Blikkiesdorp 4 Hope project here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blikkiesdorp-4-Hope-Projects/191269890950662
