Steyn City in association with Auto & General celebrated the fifth anniversary of its community care initiative, Delivering Happiness to Diepsloot, on 16 November, with an event that spread joy to more children than ever before.
Steyn City CEO Giuseppe Plumari explains that the project was initially conceptualised as a vehicle for providing support to the children living in the lifestyle resort’s neighbouring township.
“This was important to us,” he states, “because we believe that Steyn City needs to have an improving effect on those around us.”
This is why the development has also launched initiatives like the Steyn City skills centre, artists programme, and participates in Mandela Day activities.
While these are all worthy causes, Delivering Happiness to Diepsloot has a special place in the hearts of Plumari and his team not only because it is the lifestyle resort’s signature initiative, but also because it has the potential to create real, sustainable change by increasing access to education through the annual donation of related items, such as schoolbags and stationery.
“So many children have a hunger to learn, to improve themselves through education. However, in many cases, the lack of basic gear is a real impediment to learning.”
This year, the children were gifted schoolbags filled with stationery, sweets and toys. These are no ordinary schoolbag, however; each features a sewn-in poncho which is waterproof as well as light reflective.
“Consider the difference this will make to the many children who have to walk to school, no matter the weather,” Plumari comments.
A number of other items were included in the packs distributed amongst the children, thanks to the generous sponsors of the campaign. Auto & General provided sponsorship of R600 000, which was spent on the bags.
“Without this, the intervention would not have been possible,” Plumari says
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Added to this, Treger Brands subsidised the cost of soccer balls to be included in the bags, and Kellogg’s provided 10 000 tubes of Pringles, while Broadacres Spar sponsored 10 000 fruit juices. P3 Mining Services donated 10 000 packets of VitaSmart, a highly vitamised energy cereal based beverage, requiring only water and milk, providing rapid restorement of energy to the young learners. JCJ Sweets, a small family business based in the East Rand, displayed the true spirit of Ubuntu by providing sweets below cost.
Educational aids were provided by the Midcorp Group, which supplied educational charts for learners in Grades R and 3, while Croxley sponsored stationery packs containing pens, rulers and paper.
The SAPS and JMPD lent a helping hand by creating road closures and providing police escorts, while the Community Policing Forum were on hand to assist participants at the schools.
The Gareth Cliff Show gave a voice to all those taking part in Delivering Happiness to Diepsloot with a live broadcast from the Steyn City Golf Clubhouse.
The radio crew was joined by a host of celebrities adding a dash of pizazz to proceedings: Tbo Touch was, once again, an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign, as were TV personality Maps Maponyane, Olympic swimmer Roland Schoeman and Carolyn Steyn.
There were some new faces amongst Delivering Happiness to Diepsloot’s celebrity fans, including Brent Lindeque from Cliffcentral, Kaya FM DJ Thomas Msengana and television presenter Lunga Shabalala. .
“It is such a privilege to be able to put these learners on the path to a bright future,” Plumari says.
A festive atmosphere prevailed throughout the day, from the minute the trucks with their precious parcels departed in convoy from Steyn City, to the exciting moment the smiling learners unzipped their bags
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