Every year Manitou Group offers employees the opportunity to initiate, share and put forward a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) project within the group. This initiative runs from April until June each year after which projects are shared on a CSR platform and all employees are invited to vote for their favourite project within given categories. This is followed by an award ceremony which takes place in September each year to reward those who achieved the most votes in each category.
This Elevation Challenge is one of the highlights of the Group’s CSR plan. Employees from Manitou subsidiaries, including Manitou SA, are invited to engage in projects that contribute towards sustainable development in themes proposed by the group:
- Products (sustainable innovations)
- People (employees, SHEQ, well-being)
- Partnership (suppliers, dealers, community)
This year, Manitou SA extended their support to Ola Ndlovu and Taryn can der Merwe who both embarked on this exciting challenge.
Ola Ndlovu’s initiative is called “Jersey-A-Child”, a special project dedicated to keeping a school learner warm this winter. Ola identified a school with 874 learners in the rural area Hammanskraal, Gauteng. The learners at this school often go through the cold winter days without a jersey, socks and decent school shoes. He encouraged his fellow colleagues at Manitou SA to donate the following: 1 x School Jersey (Black), 1 x Pair of school socks (Grey) and 1x Pair of school shoes (Black).
“Jerseys, socks and school shoes will ensure that many have a warm winter at school in 2019 as they chase the liberty that comes with a sound education.” - Ola Ndlovu.
Taryn embarked on a mommy-and-baby care packs initiative. Her project is called “The Project of Love and Care” and is aimed at caring for moms, their newborn babies, nurses and security staff at the Edenvale Hospital in Gauteng.
The ladies of Manitou SA spent two days supporting Taryn by assisting with packing Mom & Baby Care Packs. The packs were delivered to Edenvale Hospital Maternity Ward to 110 moms and their newborn babies.
The babies received: a hand-knitted beanie, booties, a cotton baby grow, a fleece blanket, a packet of nappies, wet wipes, baby powder and bum cream. The moms received: a pack of maternity sanitary towels; a face cloth, Vaseline petroleum jelly, soap and toothpaste. The nurses and security staff each received a hand-knitted scarf, a beanie and mitten set, a face cloth, Vaseline petroleum jelly, soap and toothpaste.
“I know we can’t fix everything. What we can do is create a village of love for moms and their newborn babies.” – Taryn van der Merwe
The Elevation Days Challenge is about encouraging people to be Agents of Change and make a difference. The late Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
