Miss South Africa 2017, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, has thrown her weight behind a fund-raising initiative this Women’s Month that will enable young women to continue their tertiary education.
Says Nel-Peters, a B.Com business management and entrepreneurship graduate, who is also the ambassador for Cell C’s Take a Girl Child to Work Day®: “I believe education is the most important means of empowering women with knowledge, skills, self-confidence and social and economic status. These qualities enable women to become vibrant contributors to the economy and leading job creators in South Africa.
“The Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work Day® is more than just an annual one-day event.
It’s an ongoing movement with the long-term goal to raise funds and contribute towards tertiary education and training for qualifying girl learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.
It is this philosophy that drives me to use my platform as Miss South Africa 2017 to nurture the young women of our nation to become future captains of industry. I want every young girl child to dream, believe and achieve, by placing the power of education in their hands,” adds Nel-Peters.
Her views are echoed by Cell C Foundation Managing Executive, Suzette van der Merwe: “Women empowerment and gender equality is part of Cell C’s ethos. We are passionate about education and thankful for the support from Miss South Africa to raise funds for the Girl Child Bursary Fund. Cell C, in partnership with not-for-profit organisation, The Tomorrow Trust, identifies post-matric, qualifying girls from disadvantaged backgrounds to benefit from the fund. To date, 30 post-matric qualifying girls have received bursaries and we have produced eight graduates.’’
Each young woman is supported holistically through academic, psychosocial and financial support. Bursaries cover registration, tuition, books, accommodation and workshops as well as providing a monthly allowance.
To assist Nel-Peters in raising funds for more bursaries for girls this Women’s Month, contributors can make an online donation via Backabuddy on http://bit.ly/GIRLCHILDBURSARYFUND or send an SMS with the keywords ‘Girl Child’ to 14799 to make a R10 donation*. (*For Cell C customers, the full SMS amount will be paid over to the Tomorrow Trust as all costs are waivered.)
Donations go directly to the Tomorrow Trust and all donors receive a Section 18A tax letter as well as a BEE certificate.
