By: Cat Pritchard
Like many corporates, FNB has an employee volunteerism programme – one that supports its employees to make a difference in projects they are passionate about. But now, one thing FNB has over other corporates is the recognition that their work with Usindiso Ministries is making a real impact or so says the Mail and Guardian when it named it the “best corporate employee involvement programme.”
It all started when members of the First National Bank (FNB) volunteers support programme started communicating with Usindiso Ministries, a faith-based shelter for abused and homeless women in central Johannesburg, over funding a gas bread oven.
In May last year 17 FNB volunteers raised R40 000 to buy an oven for the shelter. The relationship has grown and by June this year the volunteers had raised a further R59 000 to help Usindiso.
“We didn’t want to have a once-off impact, we wanted to build a relationship and develop a longterm goal to assist the charity,” says FNB Volunteers coordinator Nicole Strydom.
It was this ongoing relationship that most impressed the Investing in the Future judging panel. They pointed out that one-off and short-lived corporate employee involvement programmes are more like team-building exercises and they tend to waste the administrative resources of recipient organisations.
“The FNB support programme at Usindiso Ministries is employee involvement at its best. We commend the people and the bank’s branch that is driving this,” says Strydom.
Chief executive of Usindiso Ministries Jay Bradley says the volunteers have worked to improve the day-to-day lives of the women and children at the shelter, based in the old “Pass Office” at 80 Albert Street. Bradley says the relationship has grown over time. “The needs of the organisation dictate the programme,” she says.
“The volunteer donations have furnished all the rooms and the painting and cleaning up has helped make the women and children proud of their surroundings and has therefore been instrumental in increasing their self-worth.”
The main impact of the project has been to assist women, teens and children in their healing
process to help them understand that people do care about them. The gas bread oven is used to help residents in the shelter to learn baking and cooking skills to help them find jobs and provide for their families in future.
Residents are trained about budgets and markets and in building team spirit and support groups, which are essential to the healing process. Strydom points out that it is easy to have an impact in a small way by giving a person a fish and not worrying about where the next meal comes from.
“We believe we need to teach people how to fish,” she says. “This will take at least three to five years. We aim to find out and do what needs to be done to help Usindiso so that when we leave them they will be 100% sustainable.”
FNB employees are encouraged to attend Usindiso annual general meetings to understand the focus and goals of the shelter because this helps improve the relationship between the organisations.