Bag of Hope receives first consignment of staples for onward distribution to households under duress
The first consignment of food procured by the Bag of Hope campaign for vulnerable household was handed over this week to Co-Feed Namibia, the agency responsible for getting the food to the targeted households.
The food was donated by RMB Namibia under the banner of the FirstRand Namibia Foundation’s Hope fund. The campaign ran off the FNB Happiness Store and the foundation matched every dollar donated. In total, N$166,000 were collected for the first disbursement of maize meal, pasta, WeetBix, Cornflakes, juice and soup powder.
The collected money was used to buy the provisions from the campaign’s supply partner, Bokomo.
Conrad Dempsey of RMB Namibia said they believe their responsibility stretches further than just keeping their essential services functioning for clients. “As an ethical corporate citizen, we are committed to doing more. We believe in the power of partnerships. We are working closely with the government, the business community, philanthropists and [civil] society on a number of initiatives to address the immediate needs and help arrest the future impact of COVID-19.”
Bokomo’s Chief Executive, Hubertus Hamm contributed “The whole world has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and this has also greatly affected the job security of many Namibians, leaving countless unemployed. We trust this assistance will help them overcome the current difficult situation. I am fully convinced that the Bokomo – RMB relationship will be a fine example of partnerships among businesses and that we can build on this partnership going forward.”
Co-Feed Namibia’s representative, Linda Baumann said “Co-Feed Namibia would like to applaud the efforts made today for the collectiveness in social responsibility and corporate responsibility paid forward to fellow Namibians during these tough times. As Namibians we are aware of the realities our communities face.”
From the left, Annie Strauss of RMB Namibia, Nadia Lawrence, the Head of Marketing at Bokomo, Hubertus Hamm, Bokomo’s Chief Executive, Conrad Dempsey of RMB Namibia; Linda Baumann of Co-Feed Namibia and Josephat Mwatotele of Ashburton Investments.
