Vuselela means "to revive or renew", which aptly describes what Nedbank’s Vuselela team experienced when its 25 bankers from Sandton traded their suits and laptops for casual clothes and elbow grease to volunteer for a day at FoodBank Johannesburg in City Deep at the Fresh Produce Market.
After a brief introduction to the work of FoodBank South Africa, the "suits" were swiftly put to work in the warehouse, helping to receive and count stock before defacing and dispatching it.
Although FoodBank distributes to most of its agencies (non-profit organisations that work directly with the hungry), some agencies opt to collect from our warehouses.
Nedbank’s Michelle van Staden had the opportunity to meet some of the people collecting food. Michelle was deeply humbled by her interactions with people who are vulnerable to food insecurity.
"I think what really impacted me was seeing people being turned away because of a lack of resources; people who were representing at least 100 others who would go hungry that night."
"It was an outstanding team-building event for our team. We specialise in lean process engineering in a service-based industry, so we really enjoyed implementing our skills in an industrial environment."
After a hard day’s work, the Vuselela team treated FoodBank staff to a braai at the market lapa, a popular venue for staff birthday parties. It turned out to be Nedbanker Amanda Monnye’s birthday (30 April) and a day to remember for all.
FoodBank extends heartfelt thanks to: Amanda Monnye, Nkosazana Nxasana, Asanda Smith, Ben Mnyandu, Maureen Uluma, Robyn Clark, Michelle van Staden, Magesh Pillay, Geonela Del Fava, Anthea Kahn, Kim Field, Edwin Butler, Thirusha Pillay, Shamila Abrahams, Walter Molepo, Gavin Assumption, Clifford Josephs, Ludwige Brussow, Shamima Essop, Neil Conradie, Kerry Carter, Weena Botha, Yogan Chetty and Burcu Birinci.
It was our privilege to host you and to invite you to join us in the fight to eradicate hunger in our country.
