By Lindsey Kin

Jolande Duvenage, eBucks CEO, kicked off the celebrations by welcoming all to Suidheuwels Primary School. She explained to the children how the journey of collecting the shoes began, and asked if they had ever seen grown-ups go to the office without wearing shoes? The excited kids answered with a confident ‘no!’ Duvenage explained, “Earlier this year, for two Fridays, the eBucks team did just that. They even had to pay for this.” Through this employee-driven charity drive, eBucks and the FNB Volunteers Group partnered with the Bobs for Good Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded by ex-Springbok, Bob Skinstad, and his life-long friend, John Ruthford, collected a total of R20 000 so that locally produced quality leather school shoes could be distributed to school children in need.

According to the Bobs for Good Foundation, “Over 7-million South African children have never owned or worn a pair of school shoes, many of whom either have to walk great distances to reach their schools, or to the transport that will take them to school on a daily basis. During winter, this is especially difficult to do barefoot or with broken or worn shoes.” Sitting in our warm offices, it is sometimes hard to imagine what it would be like to go barefoot. On one of the coldest winter days, I decided to take a breather outside; I was in and out of that icy wind quicker than I could spell ‘shoes’ … this brought the statistic, mentioned by the Bobs for Good Foundation, closer to home. Thanks to eBucks and its partners, 200 children will now be able to keep their feet warm throughout winter.

The South African Karate champion presented some inspirational words for the learners. He encouraged them to follow their dreams, whether it is to become a fireman, a ballet dancer or even a soccer player for Bafana Bafana; if that is your passion then that is what you must strive to be. “Don’t lose focus, believe in yourself that you can achieve whatever it is you set out to do, but remember, with achieving your dreams comes hard work, so make sure you study hard at school.” As the learners sat listening in awe, he closed the proceedings by asking each child to wear their shoes proudly and reiterated, “Follow your dreams”.

Epson South Africa also came on board to sponsor the printing of photographs snapped of each child sporting their brand new school shoes.