Feed Our Crew supports freelancers in South Africa
Event production professionals in South Africa have set up the Feed Our Crew initiative, providing support to freelance live event technicians in the form of vouchers for food, electricity and other basic necessities.
The project, set up by Tamsyn Strydom, project manager of Johannesburg-based rental company MGG; Kagiso Moima Wa Masimini, owner of event management firm Blackmotion Production; and Marcia Alves of We Are Boundless, is providing ZAR 1,000 (€50) vouchers to out-of-work technicians until government support is available.
Working with People4Purpose, a local non-governmental organisation, Feed Our Crew distributes credit to recipients via their mobile phones. The vouchers are redeemable at major retailers ShopRite and Checkers, and can be used to buy groceries, medication and other essential utilities like electricity, mobile phone data and airtime.
“I am truly inspired with how our amazing industry is uniting, collaborating and pooling resources to help each other out on a practical and human level”
In two weeks, the scheme has received hundreds of applications and has dispatched 160 vouchers. The campaign has also garnered support from companies and individuals, including sponsors such as stage lighting supplier DWR, MGG and Blackmotion.
Applications to the scheme can be made via the Feed Our Crew website and Facebook page.
“There has been an immediate and devastating impact on the show and event industry across South Africa, and freelancers – the often invisible backbone of that usually vibrant industry – are particularly badly hit,” comments Feed Our Crew’s Daria Higgins, who runs events company True North.
“I am truly inspired with how our amazing industry is uniting, collaborating and pooling resources and ideas to help each other out on a practical and human level.”
To donate to the Feed Our Crew initiative, visit the website or email the team at [email protected].
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