SASKO Siyasizana Daycare Project awards 180 Daycares

In only six months, 180 daycares participating in the SASKO Siyasizana Daycare Project collected 145 000 SASKO bread bags, which has been exchanged for 1 170 prizes of much-needed items such as mattresses, chairs and even fridges or stoves.

SASKO launched its SASKO Siyasizana Daycare Project in January 2017 to assist daycares in the Mdantsane area with much-needed items for their daycares.

Siyasizana – Zulu for ‘we are helping each other’ – encouraged Mdantsane residents to come together in support of their local daycares by assisting with the collection of bags. Together with community members, 145 000 bread bags were collected.

These bread bags will now be redeemed for items such as mattresses, backpacks, basins, carpets, chairs and even fridges or stoves for participating daycares.

Lungelwa Mnyamana, Brand Manager: Essential Foods Bakeries at SASKO, explains: “We looked at the needs of the daycares in East London, and wanted to find a way of giving back to the communities who support us. By collecting these bags to recycle, we can assist the daycare owners with the basic needs to make their daycare environments more comfortable, ultimately benefiting the children in their care.

“With a total of 145 000 bags, the 180 participating daycares will now be able to prepare cooked meals, provide blankets to keep children warm, and set up tables and chairs during activity and meal times.”

The first place at this prize giving went to Elsie Siace from Luzuko Daycare, for collecting 4 850 bags. She is closely followed by Vulyelwa Tyolo from Morning Star Daycare who collected 4 700 bags.

The top five winners for the August 2017 prize giving were Luzuko Daycare (4850 bags collected); Morning Star Daycare (4700 bags collected); Kids Connection Daycare (4250 bags collected); Kingdom Kids Daycare (4000 bags collected) and Full Of Life Daycare (3750 bags collected).

“SASKO Siyasizana Daycare Project was launched in Tembisa in September 2015. And based on the success of the project in Tembisa, it is now being rolled out nationally. Daycares in Tembisa, Soweto, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Mdantsane are collecting bags, and we plan on rolling out the SASKO Siyasizana Daycare Project in other parts of South Africa in 2017. As the project grows, we’ll continue to look at the needs of the participating daycares and how SASKO can continue to support,” says Lungelwa.

To date, there are 2 256 participating daycares across the country, with 3 003 566 bags collected to be redeemed for prizes and 10 146 prizes handed out.

SASKO Siyasizana Daycare Project is an ongoing programme hosted and implemented by SASKO. For more information, visit www.sasko.co.za.