As the economic effects of COVID-19 continue to be felt across the country, individuals and communities continue to feel the pinch and some are not able to feed their families. A lot of help is being offered to these families by individuals and companies and one of these companies that have been donating foodstuffs is the retail store Carrefour which is operated by Majid Al Futtaim in Kenya.
Carrefour is working in joint forces with the Red Cross to deliver donations of over 10,000 food hampers to families. These food hampers have essential items such as maize meal, rice, ndengu, and baking flour.
As a catalyst for change in the community, Carrefour encouraged its customers to also support vulnerable families affected by the coronavirus by donating food hampers when shopping at any of Kenya’s 8 Carrefour stores, with the brand supplementing the contributions donated by customers. The initiative was further supported by the Kenya COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, which took the lead on distributing the donated food packages to families.
Franck Moreau, Country Manager of Carrefour Kenya at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, said: “We are extremely grateful for the overwhelming generosity of our customers. At the start of this campaign, we aimed to support up to 5,000 at-risk Kenyan families. To our delight, as we near the conclusion of this campaign, we can proudly say that we have gone above and beyond our target. As a community champion, it is an honour to collaborate with organisations and customers from across the country to affect real and lasting change during these challenging times. We are determined to offer ongoing support to families in need and demonstrate our commitment to the people of Kenya.”
Dr Asha Mohammed, Secretary General, Kenya Red Cross Society, said: “We appreciate the support from partners and well-wishers such as Carrefour to help vulnerable families with food rations during this time of the pandemic. Indeed, as the response draws on, we have seen the number of people in need also continue to rise. We therefore appeal to more partners to follow the same example of assisting those affected.”
The charity campaign also saw families from Githembe in Nairobi receive over 33 tonnes of staple food, worth over KSH 2.5 million, in the first phase of the campaign.