CloudSmiths and Salesforce volunteers packing meals for the NGO Rise Against Hunger Africa. Image courtesy of Caryn Schalit
At the 2022 Salesforce Live Cape Town event, as part of the Salesforce commitment to donating time, money, and resources to their Ohana (extended communities), CloudSmiths and Salesforce volunteers joined together to spend some time packing meals for the NGO Rise Against Hunger Africa (RAH). Together the team managed to pack 20 088 meals, which will feed 87 children under the age of six for a full year.
Rise Against Hunger is an international organisation that coordinates the distribution of food and other essential aid worldwide. Rise Against Hunger is a volunteer-based meal packaging nutrition programme which was launched in South Africa in 2009. Their aim is to bring about transformation through education, and works to achieve this by educating donors, beneficiaries, volunteers, and suppliers about the role they play in eradicating child hunger.
Dayne Myles, Regional Manager Western Cape at Rise Against Hunger Africa, says, “We depend on passionate, active volunteers for meal packaging events and food distribution. Our programme has solid, measurable results and restores hope for hungry children.” He adds, “According to the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute, over 3 million children under the age of 17 in South Africa are food insecure. As a volunteer based non-profit organisation, without the hands and funding that corporates such as CloudSmiths and Salesforce provide through their culture of making a difference, we aren't able to make our daily impact. In the five hours contributed by the volunteers, we were able to pack over 20 000 meals, which enables us to feed 87 children for a full year at their crèche.”
Welcoming the enthusiasm shown by the volunteer team, and the positive effect the experience had on them, CloudSmiths Head of Marketing Patrick Eriksen says, “This was an excellent initiative and the combined team of Salesforce and CloudSmiths volunteers made a marked impact. We are hoping to get involved with RAH again later this year when our team is there for the annual 2023 Salesforce Live Cape Town conference.”