Volvo Car South Africa and its dealership network have extended support to essential services fighting the spread of COVID-19. These include the use of the Volvo fleet by frontline services workers as well as support to repair cars of essential service customers.
Volvo Car South Africa supports Save our Schools NPO to bring water relief to those in need
While the basic guidelines in fighting the spread of COVID-19 are to wash hands frequently with soap and water and to disinfect surfaces as often as possible, communities in townships and informal settlements struggle to do so. With little access to clean water for basic hygiene and sanitation, it is near impossible to abide by the advice given in order to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Enter the team at Save Our Schools non-profit organisation (SOS NPO), which is working around the clock to install emergency hand washing stations that will be made available to over 110 000 residents in the Wallacedene, Bloekombos and Scottsdene communities in the Western Cape. These stations will be built onto solid concrete bases and will have liquid soap available from separate dispensers.
SOS NPO will be installing fourteen 5 000-litre water tanks in the area. In so doing, it will be creating jobs for 14 local people, who will monitor, manage and sterilize the tanks to ensure that they remain clean and filled with fresh water. They will also ensure that liquid soap supplies are replenished.
To achieve this alone is a mammoth task that requires many hands and much help. Volvo Cars SA released the Cape Town based fleet of press cars for SOS NPO to use in order to expedite the vital work being carried out. These cars are helping the SOS NPO operation team and volunteers to get out to these sometimes hard-to-reach areas safely, in order to supply essential goods, food items, sanitizers as well as transport materials used in erecting water stations at schools and churches.
In addition, Volvo provided over 100 litres of sanitiser product for SOS NPO to distribute to the vulnerable communities within which it operates.
Volvo Car South Africa partners with Medi Response
Experts in the management and supply of emergency service solutions, Medi Response is utilising Volvo Car South Africa’s Johannesburg-based press fleet while working on the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.
As an essential service provider operating throughout national lockdown, Medi Response is utilizing the vehicles as valuable additional resources in order to combat the threat of the virus.
Being on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic does not only mean treating and getting patients safely to hospital, but also looking after the well-being of South Africa and its people. Medi Response believes that lives matter and people come first.
With the addition of Volvo Car South Africa’s press vehicles to their fleet, Medi Response has helped to deliver thousands of food parcels to the less fortunate. The organisation has also donated much-needed medical consumables to various animal shelters and NPOs in dire need of assistance.
FMGH Volvo Cars supports Meals on Wheels
Filby Marescia Group Holdings (FMGH) Volvo Cars – holding company for Volvo Cars Pietermaritzburg, Volvo Cars Pinetown and Volvo Cars Hillcrest – has been a sponsor of Meals on Wheels for the past 14 years. The NPO supports 520 kitchens and homes of safety for abused women and children throughout the country, feeding in excess of 122 000 people per day.
The NPO was established over 50 years ago and is a major contributor to reducing poverty and hunger in South Africa. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, demand has grown. The aged and young are most vulnerable, and a lack of access to clean running water is particularly problematical.
FMGH Volvo, Meals on Wheels and Enza Construction (which is building a hospital in the KwaMashu area) have undertaken to feed the aged and young for the duration of lockdown, and they are funding 1 500 meals per day for residents of Alexandra in Johannesburg.
The meals are both nutritious and varied. This ensures that the dignity of beneficiaries is always maintained. To donate a meal to Meals on Wheels SMS the word ‘meal’ to 39055.
