Sahara commits 1,500 man-hours to volunteer activities

IN an effort to keep up with its resolve to entrench volunteerism as a critical aspect of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, staff of Sahara Group spent 1,500 man-hours in volunteer work to drive several health, educational and entrepreneurial projects organized by the Group in 2014.

According to the company, each year, across the globe, hundreds of millions of people volunteer their time and skills to help make the world a better place. This act of selfless service resonates with the core of the Sahara Brand and is carried out across the Group’s various locations in Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia through the Sahara Foundation.

“Sahara Foundation operates a personal and corporate social responsibility (PCSR) model where the “P” represents the platform for implementing the Group’s volunteer projects,” the statement said. “The 1,500 man-hours recorded in 2014 are indicative of the wide acceptance of volunteering as a way of life and vehicle through which Sahara staff give back to the society.”

The company said its 2014 Foundation projects that involved staff participation include health programmes like nutritional support for people living with HIV/AIDS in Lagos State; donation of prosthetic limbs to child amputees; community health initiatives; donation of motorized boreholes to Kumasi, Ghana; Ewu Community, Lagos and Omagwa, Rivers State Net to Live campaign and construction of six cubicle toilet facility at Manhean Technical School, Tema, Ghana. Others are eye care programme – cataract surgeries in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire; Ebola support for the Liberian government, as well as cancer awareness walk in Abuja and Lagos.

The programmes also inclide education and entrepreneurship programmes such as, ENACTUS- Sahara Light Up Nigeria Power Challenge 2014; kitchen refurbishment in Surulere, Lagos; school feeding programme in Osun State; Read-to-me school project in Lagos and Onne, Rivers State; career counseling programme, Singapore; Teach-a-teacher programme, teach-a-student programme, job shadow programme, among others.

donation of guidance and counselling centre in Lagos; Sahara scholarship project at Ibafon Primary School in Lagos; University Of Lagos 2014 Career Week; upgrade of community vocational centre, Oshodi, Lagos and upgrade of LEA Primary School in Abuja.

“We believe a conducive and suitable environment is a breeding ground for creativity and innovation,” the company said.