City Lodge staff dig deep to help Diepsloot residents

Mother Touch Academy at Diepsloot on the outskirts of Johannesburg has a fully fledged vegetable garden and several new trees thanks to the City Lodge Hotels group’s ongoing “I’m Kind” programme and its association with Food & Trees for Africa.

City Lodge staffers – from its central office and from its hotels in Randburg, Rivonia, Midrand, Sandton and Isando – recently visited the academy and got stuck into the planting of vegetables and trees to benefit the more than 120 young children from the age of six months to six years, many of whom are orphans, catered for at the facility.

Apart from a broader corporate social investment link with City Lodge, Food & Trees for Africa is one of the two organisations that benefits from bookings made on City Lodge’s web site. Online bookers can choose Food & Trees for Africa or Hospice when making online bookings and City Lodge makes a donation on their behalf.

“Sustainability and environmental awareness are extremely important to City Lodge, so getting involved with Food & Trees for Africa to make a difference at Mother Touch Academy was a very worthwhile exercise,” says Clifford Ross, City Lodge’s CEO.

“Our logo is a tree so it is fitting that we can get practically involved helping communities to grow vegetables and trees, benefiting themselves and the environment at large.”

Having assisted to establish the vegetable garden at Mother Touch Academy, City Lodge’s intention is to maintain its involvement with the academy and look for other opportunities to assist them in the future.