Durban - Eighteen companies received certificates of appreciation from the Community Chest Durban for their support.
The annual breakfast acknowledges and encourages the corporate sector to continue supporting those in need through sponsorship and fund-raising projects.
“The funds we received last year enabled us to provide support to 96 organisations, with a total of R14 million in financial grants, R1.4m in donations and donations in-kind of more than R1.2m,” said Community Chest Durban board committee chairperson Dr Velo Govender.
“I really cannot thank you enough because without your contributions this would not have been possible. We are grateful that your dependable funding has been able to keep the doors of some of our local organisations open,” said Govender.
Comrades Marathon public relations officer Sifiso Mngoma said the Community Chest Durban was among the five charitable organisations they supported, focussing on various sectors in three-year cycles.
“We have a group of five men who raised R3 962 050.08 for Community Chest this year. When they signed up to run the Comrades Marathon, they also committed themselves to raising funds for Community Chest. The dedication they showed is mind-blowing and we hope to see more people doing the same for charities in their communities,“ said Mngoma.
“There is a lot of work put in to assist the runners and open a platform for non-profit organisations, so when we see the fruits that we have planted, it means a lot to us,“ said Mngoma.
Donations in kind from Johnson and Johnson, Corobrik, NCT Forestry and Hollywood Bets during the devastation of the July 2021 unrest and flooding in KwaZulu-Natal were among those acknowledged.
Container World’s Sandy Watts said they had been supporting Community Chest Durban for more than 15 years. She said she was amazed to see the growing numbers of companies based in Durban supporting vulnerable organisations.
“This indicates that there is a lot of support going where it is needed. Community Chest has done remarkably well by being able to gather a network of organisations, individual sponsors and companies that contributes towards raising funds for vulnerable communities,” said Watts.
The Independent on Saturday