Chippa adopts a poverty alleviation initiative
Chippa United FC have launched a unique programme to give back to the community in which they operate, by mobilizing their fans and football lovers of the Eastern Cape to bring tinned food as a donation to Meals on Wheels.
Chippa United Chairman Chippa Mpengesi. (Photo by Shaun Roy / Gallo Images)
According to club Chairman, Mr Siviwe Chippa Mpengesi, the call goes to all who will be attending the club’s crucial league match against in-form Orlando Pirates on Sunday.
Mpengesi says the Chilli Boys are stretching their brand values beyond just football, in embracing this Non – Profit Making Organization, Meals on Wheels Community Services, in the organization’s primary vision, of ensuring no South African goes to bed with an empty stomach.
“The communities around us, in Port Elizabeth and East London have shown their remarkable support for the club, and we thought a partnership with Meals on Wheels can only afford us an opportunity to plough back into these communities. I wish to call upon all Chilli Boys supporters and our visitors, the Buccaneers to come in numbers and demonstrate the Spirit of Ubuntu, which is synonymous with South Africans, said Mpengesi.
According to Mpengesi, the club will collect all food tins and store them at a safe place in order to hand them over to Meals on Wheels at one of the organization’s 9 centres, the following day. “Poverty knocks at the door of our very own supporters in South Africa, but we encourage all active supporters to remember those who cannot come to games because they could have been hungry”, concluded Mpengesi.
Meals on Wheels’ core mandate is to prepare food and feed millions of people per year on a daily basis.
“We are excited about this partnership with Chippa United and salute the club chairman for his passion and sympathy towards the poorest of the poor. Between 2011 and 2015, the South African economy was driven by a combination of international and domestic factors such as low and weak economic growth, continuing high unemployment levels, lower commodity prices, higher consumer prices (especially for energy and food), lower investment levels, greater household dependency on credit, and policy uncertainty. This period has seen the financial health of South African households decline under the weight of these economic pressures and, in turn, has pulled more households and individuals down into poverty” said Bennette Kobe, Professional Fundraiser for Meals on Wheels Community Services South Africa.
Chippa United host Orlando Pirates at Nelson Mandela Bay stadium, in a mid-top of the log clash that will attract football fans from afar.
Football fans who may not be able to support the initiative at the stadium, can do their bit by sending an sms with the word “MEAL” to 39055 and that sms will feed someone who would have otherwise gone to sleep hungry.
The drop-off zones will be at the Milner Avenue Gate A/B and the Prince Alfred Rd Gate B/C.
