In a heart-warming display of unity and community spirit, 15 esteemed companies joined hands and embarked on a transformative journey to renovate a youth services medical centre at Alexandra Community Health Centre, in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
This noble initiative coincided with the globally celebrated Mandela Day, a day dedicated to honouring the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela and promoting the values of service, justice, and equality.
On July 18, the collaborative effort saw the companies and the local community pool their resources, skills, and expertise to revamp the youth services centre, making it a more conducive space for the youth and healthcare practitioners of Alexandra. This project underscores the power of collective action and the shared commitment to fostering positive change and empowerment within the community.
The project was an initiative of the SAME Foundation, an award-winning NPO that undertakes high impact community development projects throughout South Africa.
Tyrone Pols, spokesperson of SAME, said: “This Mandela Day we envisioned implementing a legacy project that will have a lasting impact on the wellbeing of the youth, and the Youth Services Centre is a perfect fit as it is a specialist medical centre that caters for the youth of Alexandra.
“Our donors and the community certainly heeded the call to action. Not only did the donor companies fund the renovations, they arrived in full force with over 180 participants on Mandela Day to work on the renovation project.”
Over the next few months, the centre will be fully equipped with the furniture and medical equipment required to deliver state-of-the-art services to the youth.
Pols explained that the project was an extension of the development work that SAME has already done at Alexandra CHC, which saw the Accident and Emergency and Therapeutic Services Units fully renovated and equipped in 2023.
The participating companies included Bidvest Facilities Management, Bongani Rainmaker, Clyde & Co, Dentsu Creative, Fragomen Africa, Full Circle Media, Ingerop, Komatsu, LNW Gaming Africa, Lumax Energy, Metrofile, Parker Hannifin Africa, The Energy Company, Volkswagen Financial Services, and Water Skills SA. By coming together on Mandela Day, these companies honoured the legacy of Mandela by embodying his spirit of unity, compassion, and social responsibility.
The Alexandra community largely drove the success of the project and had a large contingent of volunteers on the day and SMMEs that worked on the project.
“All service providers on the project were sourced exclusively from the Alexandra community. Various suppliers, contractors, security, catering, and facilities management were sourced in partnership with the Johannesburg Economic Development Forum, so this project is an ideal model of how Socio-economic Development projects can work to develop communities holistically,” concluded Pols.