MTN brings festive spirit of giving to KZN beach vendors, visitors and place of safety for women and children
With the holidays in full swing and the festive spirit heightening, “SA’s best network” continues to bring big and small wins to people across the country - with the aim of making things just a little bit brighter at the end of what has been a challenging year for many.
MTN carried out multiple “wins” during its most recent #WINdfall summer campaign – surprising vendors and beachgoers at Durban’s North Beach, as well as the residents and staff of a local place of safety for women and children.
As if the pandemic hadn’t been hard enough on businesses and entrepreneurs, KZN was also hit with days of heavy rain in April this year. This led to deadly flooding, which among other devastation caused critical damage to the water and sanitation infrastructure in the region. This resulted in beach closures for most part of the year, due to high e-coli levels found in the sea water.
Many businesses that rely on holiday makers and people visiting the beach have had no form of income for months.
For beach vendors, this meant that their livelihoods and the wellbeing of their families were hugely affected.
MTN supported 30 beach vendors based at North Beach by purchasing as much of their stock as possible (such as sunglasses, sun huts, slops, buckets and spades, ice- creams and cold drinks) - and then gifted those items, together with additional items such as beach towels and water bottles, to people visiting the beach that day.
From families eating breakfast at the beachfront restaurant and runners jogging along the promenade, to lifeguards, children playing in the sand and musicians entertaining the crowds - anyone had the chance to receive a win.
Each vendor was also surprised with a R500 grocery voucher and a 2GB data voucher.
One of the beach vendors cried as she said: “Thank you for supporting my business and for buying my items so that I can take money home to my family. I am thankful to MTN for the grocery voucher, now I can feed my children for Christmas.”
Some runners were also surprised with ice cold water and cold drinks. “We do a Park Run along the promenade every Saturday and today we were literally crawling because it was so hot - and out of nowhere, MTN came and gave us cold water! Thank you MTN,” said a grateful runner.
The wins didn’t stop there. MTN also surprised a nearby place of safety for women and children with some of the items purchased from the vendors, as well as toiletries, grocery and data vouchers for all the residents, and toys and clothing for the children.
This week’s beneficiary is a non-profit organisation that was founded 71 years ago. The organisation provides a safe home for abused women and children, and teaches skills such as sewing to the residents. The home currently has 10 women and five children in its care - but sadly, these numbers are expected to increase over the festive season.
The home also received a R50 000 cash donation from MTN to assist with daily running costs, while the staff members were each gifted a R500 shopping voucher and 2GB data in acknowledgement of the dedication and love they show for the women and children each and every day.
“Thank you MTN for this very generous donation,” said Father Dane from the home. “This was such a welcome surprise for which we are most grateful. It is not often that our staff are included as recipients, and this is highly appreciated. The staff are loyal, dedicated and hard working, often under very trying circumstances. Your recognition of them is fantastic.”
“It truly was a day of winning in Durban, and we’re beyond happy to have been able to make even a small difference in the lives of so many people - from beach vendors and beachgoers to the residents and staff of the place of safety,” said Jacqui O’Sullivan, MTN SA: Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability.
“For us, our #WINdfall campaign is about helping where we can to make these last days of 2022 a little brighter for South Africans because it’s been a long, tough year for many and everyone needs a win right now. Delivering wins all over the country has been both emotional and extremely rewarding,” she concluded.
MTN has already visited the MTN Taxi Rank in Noord Street in Johannesburg, Uvuyo Lower Primary School in Soweto, the University of Johannesburg Sophiatown student residence, the Boxer Supermarket in Mitchells Plain, the Greensleeve’s Home for orphaned and abandoned children in East London, the SPCA in Roodepoort, the SAVF Huis in Ermelo, Mpumalanga as well as vendors and the Our Home place of safety in Bloemfontein to hand out big and small wins in the form of cash donations, grocery vouchers, electricity vouchers, data vouchers, stationery packs, student loan supplements, toys, presents, phones, wi-fi connections, and much, much more – because #EveryoneNeedsAWin.
If you want to be a winner with MTN this summer, simply join, upgrade or recharge with MTN data bundles for special offers or to receive entries into the weekly draws. Download the MTN app or dial *234# today to find out more about how to win a share of R200 million in fuel, grocery, electricity and stationery vouchers, MoMo cash, or free and discounted data and airtime.
The following MTN transactions will earn customers draw entries until 31 December:
•Signing up for a new MTN contract, upgrading or adding a line
•MTN Pulse registration for under 25s
•New prepaid SIM activations / new customer porting to MTN
•Daily, weekly or monthly summer data bundle recharges on MTN app or *234#
Visit www.mtn.co.za for all the details. Or follow @MTNza and the hashtags #EveryoneNeedsaWin and #MTNSummer on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news on all promotions or opportunities to win.