Adding hope and giving back to the community

NON-profit organisations (NPOs) have played an important role in trying to resolve challenges faced by communities in South Africa. They present solutions to problems that commercial enterprises aren’t suited to and that governments can’t resolve without help.

Some of the crises the country is currently dealing with are Covid-related, with the pandemic bringing many challenges that affect all of us in different ways.

The Gift of the Givers Foundation is one of the largest disaster response nongovernmental organisations of African origin on the African continent.

Given that the pandemic constituted a health/medical disaster, the response by Gift of the Givers was both comprehensive and designed to cover identified medical and humanitarian needs.

As a leading disaster relief organisation, Gift of the Givers immediately made its resources available and became party to relief solution development. As a locallybased non-profit organisation, it opted to focus its attention primarily on efforts to assist in South Africa.

The organisation has delivered protective materials including masks, gloves, coveralls, hazmat suits, head and shoe covers, sanitisers, reusable surgical gowns, scrubs, non-contact thermometers, pulse oximeters, intuboxes, triage tents, blankets, mattresses, pillows, hygiene, maternity and baby packs.

It also provided medical equipment including video laryngoscopes and commenced the roll-out of 70 life-saving High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) machines. The organisation’s activities have benefited 200 hospitals and health centres throughout South Africa.

When the University of Cape Town (UCT) caught fire recently, Gift of the Givers stepped in by providing meals to students, and firefighters fighting the blaze.

The organisation said it would continue its efforts to assist UCT students with three meals a day, toiletries and counselling.

The drought is another major challenge in South Africa. The organisation has drilled 400 functional boreholes in the last two years that have benefited thousands. Currently in the Eastern Cape, its water tankers provide 550 000 litres per week, Monday to Sunday, to desperate residents.

Hunger is an even bigger crisis. The organisation’s call centres, emails and staff are flooded with requests for food. It has delivered aid to areas where children are eating plants to survive or eat anything that comes off a dump site. Gift of the Givers has delivered 130 000 food parcels in South Africa. In addition, the organisation said it was supporting a number of feeding centres and delivering fortified nutrient products to hungry children.