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Make Christmas Matter is a national call-to-action campaign initiated by GreaterGood South Africa to enable citizens to support accountable poverty eradication programmes, while reaffirming the real meaning in celebrating Christmas for themselves. GreaterGood South Africa is aligned to the global action to eradicate extreme poverty in our time. The destabilising gulf between rich and poor negatively affects all South Africans in a myriad of ways on a daily basis. This striking inequality is perhaps, most grievously obvious at Christmas time. More and more people feel that the excessive consumerism and waste over the Christmas season degrades a time that is supposed to be notable for its great values and good intentions. |
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Unlike calls for donations that ask for money over and above planned budgets, Make Christmas Matter encourages people to give some of what they would have spent anyway. In essence, it doesn't mean sacrifice - it is about being thoughtful and purposeful about how you spend your Christmas budget so that you get more goodness out of celebrating Christmas.
Make Christmas Matter enables South Africans to revive the true joy of giving and receiving by making the contribution to a brighter and better future an integral part of celebrating Christmas. The campaign makes it easy for people to choose the way that they would like to make a difference, and it ensures that the funds do reach bona fide development organisations working for the greater good.
The recommended beneficiaries of Make Christmas Matter donations are registered non profit organisations working directly to eradicate extreme poverty. Donors can choose to support a Cause of their own choice, or the recommended Causes that make an impact in the following key development areas:
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Boosting Food Security through sustainable environmentally-friendly agriculture projects;
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Providing Clean Water and sanitation including rainwater harvesting and water conservation projects;
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Improving Basic Healthcare in communities including home-based care for those infected with HIV/Aids;
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Improving Education at school level including food security at schools and support for children affected or infected by HIV/Aids;
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Building Adult Capacity including literacy, vocational training, skills training, Women's Rights training, entrepreneurship and job creation projects;
www.GreaterGoodSA.co.za ensures accountability and transparency. You can access the up-to-date Make Christmas Matter fund-raising barometer online. Beneficiaries will provide ongoing online report backs so that you know exactly how the funds are used to achieve the goal of eradicating extreme poverty in South Africa.
Did You Know?
- The USA spent around $40 billion on Christmas in 2004. The United Nations has said that just half of that would provide basic shelter, healthcare and food to the world's poorest people.
- In 2004, South Africans spent R32 billion on Christmas - you can imagine how just half of such an amount would significantly uplift the lives millions of South Africans who suffer needlessly from lack of food and health care; lack of clean water and adequate housing; lack of education and employment opportunities. In real terms, it actually doesn't take that much to help others to get onto the first rung of the ladder of sustainable development.
Click here to participate in Make Christmas Matter.
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