A can a man when put together brings great joy to vulnerable children
A modest individual contribution from every B2Gold employee, has pooled into a large resource that is now used to improve the lives of vulnerable people. This week the 124 orphans and other vulnerable children of Moria Grace private hostel received 500 cans of food to help them through the period leading up to Christmas.
When Canadian gold miner B2Gold’s employees enquired about their involvement in community projects, the CAN Do campaign was launched in October this year. At the end of the month, after payday, every employee voluntarily brings one can of food to work. This is collected by the mine’s Corporate Social Responsibility department.
It is then up to the employees to nominate a beneficiary. Having heard through the media of the Moria Grace children’s plight, the employees agreed to make a donation to the hostel.
This decision sparked a chain reaction. First, B2Gold undertook to match every can of donated food, with another can of food. Soon thereafter, SA Oil, one of the mine’s suppliers got wind of the employee charity drive, and asked their own employees in South Africa for their support. Within a few days, substantial donations arrived from South Africa, all donated by SA Oil’s SA employees.
The pooled contributions surprised everybody, enabling the mine’s CSR department to earmark 500 cans for Moria Grace. The food was given to the hostel’s residents earlier this week at an impromptu ceremony on their premises.
Most of Moria’s children come from destitute surroundings. Some are from desperately poor household, others are orphans and some have been discarded by their families. The B2Gold employees have decided that they will support charities in Otavi, Otjiwarongo and Windhoek with their regular canned food donations.
B2Gold said its Corporate Social Responsibility programme promotes responsible mining and sustainable initiatives that will have long-term impact in its four focal areas of Education, Environmental Conservation, Livelihood Development and Health.
A joyful occasion for the residents of Moria Grace private hostel. Pictured are Ignasius /Awaseb (standing left), B2Gold’s CSR Manager and George Shimaneni (standing right), B2Gold’s Corporate Affairs Manager, with Namasik Nalisa, the mine’s acting Public Relations Coordinator, and a small group of the hostel residents.
