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Give the Gift of Hope this December with KFC & Gift of the Givers!

30 November 2023

Thanks to the incredible generosity of all who continue to donate R2 to the KFC Add Hope programme, KFC and Gift of the Givers will ensure that more South African children will not suffer the devastation of hunger and malnutrition this holiday season.

Every single R2 contribution collected by KFC ADD Hope during December will be donated to Gift of the Givers, Africa’s biggest disaster relief organisation who do such extraordinary work both globally and in South Africa. KFC will also match the amount donated to Add Hope.

This partnership will enable KFC and Gift of the Givers to not only enhance the reach of their hunger programmes and feed more children, but to celebrate and show South Africans how their contributions, no matter how small, can provide the greatest of gifts in this season of giving – the gift of Hope.

“We forget the big our small can do and while many of us are lucky to be able to regard R2 as small change it can make such a big change,” said Andra Nel, KFC Marketing Manager: Brand and Purpose. “Together, all the R2 donations our customers have added to their bills since the KFC Add Hope programme started in 2009 have and will continue to make vital differences in the daily the lives of so many hungry South African children. And for that, we thank them.”

Founded in 1992 by Doctor Imtiaz Sooliman, the Gift of the Givers Foundation has become an icon and beacon of hope in South Africa and around the world. It is the largest African-founded disaster response non-governmental organisation on African continent, and aims to “bring hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable”. It has helped provide R4.5-billion of aid to 45 countries in over 30 years.

“For millions of South African children, there is no holiday from hunger, particularly with the economy in the state it is in after the incredibly hard years of the pandemic. Having worked with KFC Add Hope in the past, it made perfect sense for us join forces this holiday season to work to Add more Hope,” said Dr Sooliman.

“The numbers of children suffering from hunger and malnutrition in South Africa increase every year. A report from the Nelson Mandela Children’s foundation in October found that there were ‘eight million hungry children’ in South Africa. We have seen it on the ground when we have worked at disaster sites, whether it be a fire or floods. Hunger affects children, parents and communities on a psychological, emotional and physical level and leaves millions struggling to hold on to hope.”

Gift of the Givers’ hunger alleviation programme incorporates both short-term and long-terms assistance. From providing food parcels and innovating the world’s first groundnut high-energy, protein supplement, they seek to implement effective solutions such as small-scale, self-help agricultural projects in communities. This empowers communities to take control of their own food security.

“For Gift of Givers and KFC Add Hope, being able to lift more children out of the disaster that is hunger is a test of our humanity and our collective responsibility as South Africans. By sharing what we can afford to share, such as the R2 so many have donated by KFC’s customers, we give children Hope and increase their potential to break out of the cycle of poverty, and that is the greatest gift we can give.”

Add Hope gives KFC customers the option to donate R2 (or more) each time they purchase a meal from one of its restaurants. All of the R2 donations collected during December will go straight to Gift of the Givers. KFC will also match the amount donated during December.

KFC donates a fixed percentage of operational costs to the Add Hope campaign annually and the R2 Add Hope donations are passed on with no admin fee.

KFC Add Hope partners with over 130 non-profit organisations (NPO) in the Add Hope beneficiary organisation network and serves over 33-million meals to children in need annually. Since it began, Add Hope has raised more than half a billion rand.