Wheels boost for NGOs’ relief efforts
TWO organisations that have been feeding the disadvantaged since the beginning of lockdown were gifted with vehicles by Hyundai Automotive SA to help them continue providing relief to the many who are struggling.
Gift of the Givers received two Hyundai H100 bakkies and an H-1 Bus, and FoodForwardSA received three H100 bakkies and two Grand i10 Cargo panel vans this week.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said the vans would strengthen logistics and the bus would be used by the medical team moving around to do Covid-19 testing at various companies.
The NGO has a Covid-19 testing site in Bellville and has carried out 5 000 tests so far. It already had 65 vehicles on the road, shuttling medical teams, transporting medical equipment to front-line health workers and delivering food to communities.
Sooliman said: “We have requests to do 7000 tests at various corporate companies and government agencies. All test results are given to the NICD and they allocate the results to the provinces.”
He said when a person tested positive, their doctor was informed, as was the NICD. The positive person was counselled and advised to inform all their contacts.
Hyundai Automotive SA said it was its duty to help those who brought relief to communities. Chief executive Niall Lynch said: “This initiative forms part of the Hyundai Motor Company’s global drive to improve the lives of people who are affected by the Covid19 pandemic.
“These efforts include, among others, the provision of vehicles to front-line personnel to improve their mobility when they need it the most.”
Lynch said they were working closely with governments to support communities hit the hardest by the pandemic in the form of donations and medical equipment.
FoodForward SA managing director Andy du Plessis said millions of people did not have the funds to buy food to survive. “Therefore, creating better access to food for the poor is critical now and in the coming months.
“In partnership with the various stakeholders, we are committed to scaling up so that households in vulnerable communities receive proper food provisions.”