Staff volunteerism has always been a cornerstone of Nedbank Namibia’s quest to be deeply involved in the communities that they serve, and the recent “Fill a Jar” challenge was embraced by all of its members of staff across the country. What started off as an inter-departmental challenge, soon became a countrywide juggernaut, as teams vied for the honour of collecting as many jars as possible with non-perishable food items and donate same to vulnerable communities.
The challenge was initiated by the bank’s Finance Department, with the initiative spearheaded by
Lizette Kotze.
“I saw the campaign on social media, and it caught my eye since it’s such a simple initiative one can work on, even on a purely individual basis. The impact with an initiative is always multiplied and wide-ranging when the challenge is taken up by many, instead of only a few. When I saw this, I decided to ask my team if they were keen on the challenge, and to my surprise, they were ecstatic about it as I was,” Kotze mentioned.
The challenge, which was initiated only a few weeks ago, saw a total of 1 671 jars filled with a variety of non-perishable food items like beans, stock cubes, rice, lentils and soup powder. A total of 261 staff in different teams across the Nedbank Namibia network took part in the challenge, where the winning team stood to be chosen based on the number of jars they filled, relative to the actual members within each team. The team that won the challenge was the Nedbank Grootfontein Branch, a team made up of only four members, who still managed the amazing feat of filling no less than 118 jars.
After the competition lapsed, the teams where given options to donate the jars to any charity of their choosing. Kotze, who has initiated various staff volunteering projects, says that members in her team already have charities they work with, and having extra food items from the challenge to give out, makes it an even better experience because of the larger collective societal impact.
“Our team already donates to a few charities in the Windhoek area with the aim of reaching different people in need. Through the years the team supported a number of charities namely, the Kings Daughters, Meals on Wheels, and Eros Girls school. Sometimes we just make an effort to collect food or blankets and then donate it to someone, whenever there is a pressing need,” she said.
“What we decided to do this time around, however, was to also have an internal focus, knowing full well that there is a level of wisdom in the saying that charity often starts at home,” Kotze concluded.
Nedbank Communications and PR Manager, Selma Kaulinge, says her department assisted in the challenge by donating, and making sure the challenge extensively communicated bank wide.
“The sheer spirit demonstrated by all my colleagues during this initiative is something that will stay with my forever. Not only do we pride ourselves in our purpose of being money experts who do good, but we are also actually going out there to make a difference in the communities. This is just one of the many staff initiatives which are coupled to our already established corporate social investment framework. As a responsible business, making sure we assist in the different communities we operate in is in our mandate, and we will continue to support where we can,” Kaulinge mentioned.
The remaining Jar of Hope challenge proceeds will be donated to selected charities in the different towns.
