Together we can: Metropolitan employees open their wallets and hearts to the learners of Limpopo
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Payroll donation to MASA will help learners in need receive extra maths & science tuition.
On Friday 29 January 2021, financial services provider Metropolitan handed over R160 000,00 to the Maths and Science Academy (MASA) based in Ga-Mokopane, Limpopo. The donation is part of R260 000; an accumulative sum contributed by employees, as part of Momentum Metropolitan (MM) Holdings Payroll Giving programme.
The company has found a way to enable employees to automatically make monthly contributions via payroll. This is one of the initiatives under the staff volunteering programme that encourages employees to choose the form of volunteering – from payroll giving to face-to-face and virtual volunteering – that best suits and enables them to give back to communities. This is part of the company’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) efforts, which focuses on youth employment and empowering and uplifting the youth of South Africa.
Explains Patronella Sono, Staff Volunteer Programme (SVP) Specialist at MM Holdings, “We strive to create opportunities for employees to contribute to their respective communities, and payroll donation is one of the channels we offer to achieve this. Payroll donation offers a convenient way for employees to regularly support causes close to their hearts.”
MASA, a non-profit organisation (NPO), assists Grade 11 and 12 learners in the rural villages of Limpopo with extra-curricular tuition in maths and science. Says Thabo Makwela from MASA: “The tuition reinforces and supports students’ classroom learning, while preparing them for what is coming.”
Makwela admits that this kind of education programme is uncommon in the area, given the geographical spread of the villages in which school-going learners reside. “Tuition is free, and unlike other institutions that only accept enrolments from students who excel academically, MASA accommodates all learners who need of extra tuition.
“We are proud to say that we have paved a brighter future for many.”
In addition, MASA assists with tertiary and bursary applications, and offers basic relief in the form of food and household essentials, where needed. “We also purchase data for those who do not have the necessary means, so that they can attend our remote learning classes.”
MASA has operated for over three years without financial support and has only been able to maintain operations through the contributions of its own founders. “As an NPO - and given the intensive nature of the tuition we offer - funding remains an ongoing challenge, Makwela says.
“While we remain in the grip of a pandemic, 2021 will be another condensed school year, and learners will need extra support, now more than ever. Thanks to this generous donation from the employees of Metropolitan, we will be able to reach more students, and keep our doors open for another 10 months, at the very least. We will also be able to feed more families, which rely on the weekly stipend they receive from us.
"We are extremely grateful and would like to offer our sincerest thanks to Metropolitan and its employees,” says Makwela.
Says Koketso Ntsoane, Provincial Key Accounts Manager: Metropolitan (Limpopo), “We believe that through the power of the collective, we can better support the communities in which we operate, by connecting our employees to their communities. This helps to unlock new opportunities and provides young South Africans with the support they need to achieve their dreams. Together we can.”
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