The Youth Employment Service (YES) and Exemplar are joining forces in a shared vision to protect vulnerable township communities from the spread of Covid-19 by creating and donating home-sewn face masks.
The partnership will see several Alex-based seamstresses earning an income through the making of these masks. “We are proud of this partnership and the contribution to the protection of these communities while supporting and stimulating township economies during this challenging time,” says Dr Tashmia Ismail-Saville, YES Chief Executive.
CEO of Exemplar, Jason McCormick affirms, “As a community-centric organisation, we want to ensure as many people as possible have access to masks to help reduce the viral load being shared in public spaces to help slow the spread of the virus.”
#MasksforGood is an awareness campaign being rolled out nationally to encourage as many South Africans as possible to “#maskup.”
“As we navigate this pandemic, we are doing everything in our power to protect our communities. #MasksforGood is just another of the many steps we have already taken to protect those that don’t necessarily have the means to protect themselves,” says Jason.
Alex Mall in Alexandra, Gauteng will be the pilot project for the distribution of masks to the community. The initial rollout of masks is being funded exclusively by personal donations from Exemplar staff, including the CEO, COO and various others in senior management.
The first 20 000 masks are anticipated to be distributed by mid-April. After that a campaign will be driven via crowdfunding, masks will be rolled out across numerous other townships and rural areas. Each participating seamstress is being supplied with 50m of medical-grade cotton fabric, a pattern and instructions on how to sew the masks.
Exemplar will then buy the completed masks back directly from these township entrepreneurs, helping stimulate the local economies within which they operate. The reusable, washable masks (with care instructions) will then be distributed to the vulnerable communities surrounding the various #MasksforGood initiatives countrywide.
YES is a pioneering, business-driven initiative which has partnered with government and labour to tackle South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis and drive youth employability. YES has already generated over R1.4bn in youth salaries across 35 000 jobs in its first year of operation.
Exemplar is a market-leading retail REIT, managing 27 assets within the township and rural areas, servicing between 10 and 15 million shoppers a month.