Durban - KFC IS feeding South Africans with the R2 donated to the Add Hope initiative.
With the country on lockdown for seven weeks and hunger being one of the challenges facing the poor, KFC came under the spotlight with social media users questioning what became of their donations meant to “Add Hope”.
Social media user Quinton Britz asked where the KFC Add Hope R2 was going to: “There was no advert or post since the lockdown.” He asked whether KFC were enriching themselves and whether people were still going to support the cause.
Rashaad Soomar posted that he was thinking about whether anyone had heard or seen KFC reaching out in any way during the lockdown, and what had happened to all the R2 donations requested at the check-out points. He said he might be wrong, but he had not seen KFC getting involved in any relief efforts.
Some social media users did come across posts about KFC using the donations to feed the hungry. Jonas Matlowa said “finally my KFC R2 is used and I can see it”.
Zamah Sine Ngubane said she had stopped donating, but now she was going to donate again because she saw where it helped.
Molo Pasika. 1/3 We have been working hard to distribute food parcels using donations from Add Hope along with our R3 million contribution and have reached many families across the country since the lockdown began. Team KFC|AT pic.twitter.com/P0YopUafwg
— KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) May 12, 2020
KFC Africa chief people officer, Akhona Qengqe, said with the national lockdown, food insecurity in South Africa had increased.
Some of the Add Hope lockdown efforts included the distribution of 150 big and 300 smaller emergency food parcels in the Valley of 1000 Hills area in KwaZulu-Natal. In partnership with Afrika Tikkun, ahead of the lockdown, KFC distributed over 4000 emergency food parcels to families across the country, with enough provisions to last them three weeks.
“Our response to the hunger crisis has been swift and we’ve been able to mobilise our network to not only ramp-up our food parcels in the areas and communities in which we serve, but to further this reach. We’ve also committed an additional R3 million to food relief over this time to ensure we’re able to reach even more communities,” said Qengqe.
She said Add Hope aimed to provide as many children as possible with “a full tummy, a full heart and a full life”, and ensure “they have the nutrition they need to reach their potential and take our nation into the future”.
Started in 2009, the initiative provides over 30 million meals to over 150000 children daily, and supports more than 140 different non-profit organisations.