In support of International Volunteer Day (IVA) and GivingTuesday, and in line with the company’s biodiversity pledge, Schneider Electric South Africa assisted the Emthonjeni Community Centres with expansion of its vegetable and herb garden and contributed towards its recycling swop shop on its premises in Zandspruit, Gauteng.

Schneider Electric volunteers prepared various vegetable beds and planted spinach, kale, potatoes, and cabbage seedlings and donated numerous items towards Emthonjeni’s recycling swop shop.

“We at Emthonjeni are continually inspired by the dedication and generosity of individuals 

like those at Schneider Electric who answer the call to serve,” says Estelle Mengel

Partnership Developer at Emthonjeni Community Centres.

“The Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa has left many individuals feeling vulnerable but Schneider Electric management and staff were willing to roll up their sleeves and assist in cleaning, filling and planting seedlings in our vegetable beds.”

The vegetable garden supplies fresh and nutritional vegetables to Emthonjeni’s FACT programme (Feed a Child Today) which serves 13 000 meals per day across 17 different kitchens.  Supporting as an innovative recycling drive, the swop shop encourages Zandspruit residents to collect recyclable glass, which is weighed and converted to ZAR currency based on the weight in kilograms to purchase goods at the shop.

“It is always a privilege to partner with inspiring organisations such as the Emthonjeni Community Centres.  We hope to contribute towards their hard work and dedication which is making a tangible and sustainable difference to the communities they serve,” comments Zanélle Dalglish, Director Sustainable Development and Academy, Anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric.

Schneider Electric has been involved with the Emthonjeni Community Centres for the last seven years, which has seen the partnership reach various, sustainable milestones and interventions such as:

The donation, installation and rollout of various solar lights projects including solar home light systems, solar street light, Mobiya solar charging stations with Mobiya solar lights as an enterprise initiative which provide access to energy to classrooms, shops and more than 1000 members of the Zandspruit community. Community members were also trained on how to install the solar home light systems, which contributed to skills development.

The donation of high-quality Schneider Electric variable speed drives towards Emthonjeni’s solar water pumping solution as well as technical support from its engineers.

The Schneider Electric Foundation, the company and its employees joined hands with the Embark Foundation, a sister company of Emthonjeni, to aid vulnerable and hungry families. This initiative formed part the #TomorrowRising fund, launched by the Schneider Electric Foundation, and aligned to the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), dedicated to Covid-19 support and relief.

Various food drives, vegetable garden initiatives, school uniform and stationery donations and support of the recycling swop shop to name a few.

Schneider Electric’s partnership with Emthonjeni Community Centre contributes towards the company’s ongoing efforts to meet the UN’s SDGs which include SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SGD15 (Life on Land).