Volunteers from North West Province businesses, and local communities converged at Sun City on 20 July 2016 to pack 207 000 meals for the Follow the Sun meal packing challenge in commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day. The event was part of the international challenge, organised by Stop Hunger Now South Africa, which aimed to pack 10-million meals over seven days, from 13 to 20 July, in South Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, India, Italy, USA and Peru.
In the spirit of Nelson Mandela International Day, volunteers spent 67 minutes of their time packing dried goods such as soya, rice, 23 vitamins and minerals and a soup mix to be delivered to hungry children around South Africa. All meals packed at Sun City with the help of local businesses and caring volunteers will be distributed by Stop Hunger Now South Africa to local charities in the North West Province. Each meal box will ultimately feed a child one meal a day for an entire year, with Sun City feeding 700 children this year alone.
Organisations across South Africa came together at different sites to be part of the Stop Hunger Now, Follow the Sun feeding initiative aiming to pack 2 million meals. Five of Sun International’s properties participated, included GrandWest in Cape Town, The Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth, Carnival City in Gauteng and Sibaya in KwaZulu Natal. Caring corporate citizens rolled up their sleeves and spent 67 minutes of their time to help pack meals for early Childhood Development Centres.
Sun City also played host to the VIP Dinner where the results of the international Follow the Sun challenge were announced. Follow the Sun achieved its goal to pack 2-million meals in South Africa, with around 900,000 meals packed at Sun International venues. A grand total of just over 10 million meals was packed globally.
“We are heartened by the response from the community and local businesses to the meal packing challenge. Alleviating hunger is something that is close to Sun International’s heart and we feel privileged to have been involved in this worthwhile initiative. We thank all of our volunteers for being part of it and helping us to achieve our target,” says Mike van Vuuren, Managing Executive at Sun City.
Follow the Sun volunteers pack 207 000 meals for hungry children at Sun City
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