The term ‘social responsibility’ gives employees of an organisation the opportunity to contribute towards society and the environment. People normally live for themselves, so contributing to other people’s aspirations and to society as a whole can open up a totally new facet of their lives. thryve embarked on a few social responsibility projects this October that involved The Sweethearts Foundation, the Wakkerstroom Animal Group (WAG) and a recycling project in Esizameleni, a small township on the outskirts of Wakkerstroom, a small village in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
The Sweethearts Foundation
The Sweethearts Foundation allows passionate South Africans to uplift the lives of some less fortunate people in our communities. Their mission is to provide wheelchairs to people who need them most to give them independence and be able to participate with others in their community. Together with the support of corporates, schools and volunteers, the Sweethearts assist those in need through various means, such as the Tops & Tags initiative where plastic bottle tops and bread tags are recycled by various companies in exchange for wheelchairs, and via generous donations which help to maximise their impact on the community and also allow children to receive customised wheelchairs.
thryve participates in the Tops & Tags initiative. Depending on the parameters set by different recycling company’s once a certain amount of plastic has been collected for recycling, the Sweethearts are either provided with standard adult wheelchairs or funds which are put towards obtaining specialised wheelchairs, for the Esizameleni community. thryve anticipates that will be an ongoing participation with the Wakkerstroom community.
Wakkerstroom Animal Group (WAG)
WAG was started as an initiative to care for animals owned by the less fortunate residents of Wakkerstroom. The care ranges from providing food, blankets, tick and flea care, collars, chains and trips to the vet for sick animals – but most importantly this initiative is for spaying and neutering the females and males.
thryve assisted in collecting ice cream containers which WAG uses as food and water bowls for the dogs, and one of the staff members at thryve and her family very kindly donated a wheelchair to WAG.
Recycling – Esizameleni
thryve also partnered with a local U19 soccer team, and all participated in a presentation by a local environmentalist who described the effects of littering and pollution on an ecosystem, and in particular the delicate wetland reserves in the Wakkerstroom area. The joint team then went out into Esizameleni – a township in Wakkerstroom where we picked up litter for recycling. Although initiatives have been put into place to educate the community of Esizameleni regarding recycling, polluting and the dangerous effects polluting can have on the people, animals and the environment, the community continues to throw out their tin food cans, beer bottles, chip packets, baby nappies, etc. onto the road and into the veld.
Feedback from the Wakkerstroom recycling team regarding the amount of litter collected by thryve and the soccer team for recycling was as follows:45kg glass, 33kg tins and 29kg plastic.