With Ramadan just over a week away, many families in the community are likely to face challenges trying to ensure a plate of food or savouries on their table each evening. Despite the illusion that Ramadan serves as a period of cost cutting, Muslims are often required to fork out substantially more on food during the holy month.

This has led VOC to renew ties with Pick and Pay for the 9th edition of the Make a Difference (MAD) Campaign. Each year the supermarket chain, in collaboration with VOC seeks to assist those most in need by providing nominees with shopping vouchers, to be used at any Pick and Pay store.

As with previous years, shoppers are urged to identify families they deem most in need of the assistance, before drawing up a motivational letter as to how they will benefit from the campaign. Those motivations can be dropped off at any Pick and Pay store in the Western Cape. Alternatively nominations can be emailed to MAD@pnp.co.za, or dropped off at the VOC studios at 2 Queenspark Avenue, Salt River. Nominations need include all the relevant details of the individual or family in question.

As part of the campaign, VOC will be conducting weekly outside broadcasts at Pick and Pay stores across the city during the month ahead. On the 17th the station will be at the Promenade Mall in Mitchell’s Plain, before taking MAD to the Vangate Mall. VOC will then head to Paarl on the 1st July, Kenilworth Centre on the 8th, and the broadcasts will concluded on the 15th at the Ottery Hyper Market.

PnP Marketing manager, Sam Roy stressed that the benevolence of everyday community members was what helped the MAD campaign such a success in terms of addressing the needs of those less fortunate.

“I don’t think that in principal the initiative changes at all (this year); as always we are going to feed hundreds and hundreds of families and it is going to be entirely up to the VOC listener to help us do that,” he said.

Despite the massive numbers who are set to benefit, Roy admitted that the decision making process itself was something that proved particularly difficult.

“Some of the motivations we receive are heart wrenching, and you can see that they (nominees) are so deserving,” he said, adding that nominations would not be limited to Muslim families, but anyone truly in need of help.

Nominations for the Pick and Pay Make a Difference campaign are now open, and community members are urged to get their motivational letters in as soon as possible. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)