Emerald Resort reaches out to community

Employees at the Emerald Resort & Casino’s UK-based sister company, London Clubs International (LCI), banded together for charity. They sent some 12-tonnes of clothing, books and sporting equipment, collected as part of LCI’s Deal4Africa charity initiative, to the Emerald Resort and Casino.

The donated goods were handed over to almost 30 charities in the Vaal region last Friday (10 June 2011). Recipients included organisations that support the elderly, children, mentally and physically disabled children and adults, survivors of abuse and rape, child-headed families, victims of shack fires, and hospices.

The donations will be distributed via the Vaal Region Community Chest, the Aaron Mokoena Foundation, Child Welfare Sasolburg, and the Ikageng Old Age Care Centre. Avis Truck Rental joined forces with Emerald Resort & Casino and sponsored a truck to deliver the shipment to the Emerald Resort & Casino’s premises, where staff have donated their time to unloading and sorting the goods.

According to London-based LCI executive director Roy Ramm, Deal4Africa was born out of a passing remark made by his wife while he packed for a trip to the Emerald resort. She was packing clothing to donate to their local charity in London and said it was a pity he could not take the donation with him to South Africa.

“That was the beginning of the idea. I spoke to colleagues and we quickly found that all of us were throwing out stuff that we were bored with or had ‘grown out of’, but which was still in great condition.

“We thought it would be a way of bridging the huge geographical gap in the company by actually getting our staff in the UK to give their discarded clothing to their colleagues in South Africa to distribute to charity.

“It was a way of creating a common purpose within the group. It has been an LCI and Emerald project all the way through, and knowing that the joint efforts have resulted in a significant 12-tonnes, means that we will make a difference to so many people’s lives. It is so much more personal and involving than just giving to a big, anonymous ‘corporate’ charity,” he says.

Ramm has paid tribute to staff members who collected and sorted the clothing. In particular, he says, his PA Charmian Gunnis was “a real champion” who packed hundreds of boxes, and even took home and laundered items that needed freshening up.

Emerald Resort & Casino CEO Martin Rice says he is delighted at the charitable spirit of the group as a whole. “The great generosity and dedication of Roy Ramm and his team is nothing short of inspirational. I have no doubt that they are aware that they have done something good for fellow human beings in need, but I don’t think they necessarily realise the immense difference that they are making to all the vulnerable men, women and children who will benefit from this considerable shipment of goods.

“Suffice to say that the excitement, dedication and a contagious charitable spirit goes beyond simply donating heaps of clothing to the community. This shipment will truly make a difference to 28 charities in the Vaal and surrounding areas. We are thrilled to think that we, together with LCI will touch the lives of hundreds of people in the Vaal,” says Rice.

He is pictured above (far right) during the massive charity drive with (from left):  Rodney Makube, Ronel Swanepoel, Renette de Beer, Veronica Cronje and Selloane.