Santa's helpers get a head start

30 PnP asap! delivery bikes don red uniforms to deliver 90 bags of food to local beneficiaries

Forget reindeers – Santa has new helpers this year to help him spread the festive cheer, and more importantly, to help vulnerable communities after another tough year.

30 Pick n Pay asap! drivers – donned in Santa's red uniform – today joined together to deliver much needed groceries to a local non-profit organisation for distribution to vulnerable citizens.

90 bags of food – consisting of pasta, various canned food, oil, sugar, salt, oats, lentils, rice and, maize meal – were packed and picked up by Santa's asap! entourage at the Pick n Pay Waterfront store before making their way through Cape Town to deliver food parcels to Ladles of Love in Roeland Street.

Each bike carried enough food to feed a family two meals a day for a week, which will be distributed to beneficiaries in the coming days leading up to Christmas by Ladles of Love.

Andrew Mills, Group Executive: Marketing at Pick n Pay, says: "We've already provided many millions of meals to those in need this year, but now that it's nearing Christmastime, we wanted to do something really special. Our asap! home shopping delivery bikes are instantly recognizable so we thought it would be great to use them to bring some festive cheer to those who are possibly facing a bleak Christmas. So our asap! drivers are wearing Santa suits to surprise our customers when making grocery deliveries this month and they'll be surprising those in need too."

He adds, "It was quite a sight as thousands of South Africans shared in this festive joy today watching the ‘flash mob' of Santa drivers navigating their way through the streets to make this important festive delivery," says Mills.

Daniele Diliberto, Managing Director and Founder: Ladles of Love, says that it is many acts of kindness – such as this one – that create one huge impact of love. "Millions of adults and children in our country are stuck in spiral of poverty they don't seem able to escape no matter how hard they try. We need to be there for them for as long as we can. It is the many acts of kindness like this that help us keep a humanitarian crisis at bay."

"The Santa delivery drivers initiative was a fun surprise for our group of volunteers who are working hard to make sure as many families as possible have meals this festive season," says Diliberto.

The food parcels delivered by PnP asap! today will help provide at least 30 families of four with a healthy meal twice a day for a week.

Thanks to the ease of the on-demand asap! app, anyone can surprise a family in need by having groceries delivered this festive season. Making the surprise even more special is it could be delivered by Santa. Those wanting to help provide food assistance to the most vulnerable can also donate to Feed the Nation at any PnP till point.

The PnP asap! delivery drivers will be dressed in Santa outfits for December. Mills says this initiative is great fun for its customers and also for those enjoying the spectacle of Santa-on-a-bike whizzing through suburban streets. "We hope it puts a smile on everyone's faces."

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