The Do More Foundation celebrates the power of collaboration and its one-year anniversary

The Leave No Young Child Behind initiative aims to improve the wellbeing of young children in two of the most impoverished wards of Nkomazi, Mpumalanga, where most young children have not had access to essential early childhood development services.

To help these children, the Do More Foundation, founded by leading food producer RCL Foods a year ago, focuses on maternal and child health, nutrition and food sufficiency, stimulation and early learning, among other support structures. Without access to these services, children are unlikely to ever reach their potential and escape the poverty cycle.

Run as part of a collaborative public and private partnership, the initiative is co-chaired by the Mpumalanga department of social development together with the departments of education and health, which are part of the steering committee.

In its inaugural year as an non-government organisation, the Leave No Young Child Behind initiative is just one of a number of programmes on which the Do More Foundation collaborates with other organisations and individuals that share its threefold mission to do more for young children, to ease hunger and to support the youth.

Facilitated by the Foundation for Community Work and working with the Western Cape government and local municipalities, the Do More Foundation also sponsors Wordworks’ Every Word Counts early literacy and numeracy programme.

The DoMore4Hammarsdale initiative, founded a number of years ago by RCL Foods to address development issues in the community, has grown from two participating parties to 20 organisations – a great example of public and private partners working well together.

As an independently run, separately audited non-profit organisation, the Do More Foundation facilitates these partnerships so participants can maximise the social impact of their corporate social investment spend.

“At the core of our foundation is the belief that achieving strong, sustainable solutions depends on partnerships between a range of stakeholders – including corporates, non-government organisations, non-profit organisations and government departments – to create a better future for the most vulnerable members of society,” said Warren Farrer, an executive at the Do More Foundation.

The foundation has made considerable strides in making a difference in several communities, particularly in the early childhood development space. But its greatest contribution has been in the sphere of food security where it has committed to easing hunger through a range of projects, including small-scale farm development and feeding schemes for early childhood development centres.

One partnership between RCL Foods, the Lima Rural Development Foundation and the Jobs Fund in the Nkomazi region of Mpumalanga has resulted in an exciting initiative to develop small-scale vegetable farmers, boost food security and improve people’s lives. This is supported by the launch of the Do Good Market in Malelane, where freshly picked vegetables are supplied by the farmers and packaged to be sold to the neighbouring communities.

“The first anniversary of the Do More Foundation is an occasion to celebrate not just the foundation itself, but also the many other stakeholders from multiple sectors who have helped drive its work. It is also an occasion to inspire more people and organisations to #DoMore to make a positive difference using our collective passion, energy and resources,” said Farrer.

For more information, visit www.domore.org.za, email support@domore.org.za or call 031 242 8600.

This article was paid for by the Do More Foundation.