‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world,’ James 1 v27. These were the opening remarks by Chief Superintendent (Chaplin) Doyce at the handover of groceries donated by Spar Corporate Stores to 80 families at Moris Depot in December.

Left to right: Groceries donated by Spar. Josephine Mutsekwa (GM-Spar Arundel, Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, Shamiso Pfumayaramba (Marketing Asistant), Emmagness Ruzvidzo (Marketing Manager)

The grocery hampers donated by The Bridge and Sam Levy’s Village SPAR through their Community Benefits programme included rice, flour, mealie meal, cooking oil, bathing and washing soap, washing powder, biscuits, juice and toys for the children. The expressions of joy on the children’s faces were heartrending.

‘SPAR Community Benefit’ is a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative set up by the SPAR Zimbabwe.  The scheme has a simple mission: to raise funds from the community for the communities in need. Customers are invited to put credit notes and change into the designated boxes displayed in each of the stores. The store will then match the amount raised by customers before donating it to the chosen worthy cause. The charities were chosen to ensure that all facets of the needy community benefit from the scheme.  ‘What Spar has done is humbling, for a company to realise the plight of orphans and widows in our society is something that is commendable. We thank you for your generosity and your kindness towards those that struggle to meet their daily needs,’ remarked Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba.

The plight of children, widows and widowers in our society is one that should not be taken lightly. The loss of a bread winner in a home has robbed a lot of families of financial stability.  ‘At Spar, we have crafted a social responsibility programme in direct response to the social ills and others on a sustained basis. Our valued customers make this possible by donating their change vouchers. We understand the plight of the orphan and widow and seek to assist in any way we can,’ said Andrew Divaris, CEO SPAR Zimbabwe.