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Gift of the Givers donates food packs to the UFS

11 July 2022 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied

Gift of the Givers Donation to the UFS — Staff of the University of the Free State and the Gift of the Givers Foundation on the Bloemfontein Campus holding food packs as a donation to the No Student Hungry Programme.

“It is very hard for some students to make it through tertiary institutions, with most not only having to focus on studies but also having to worry about where their next meal will come from,” said Hlengiwe Nkwanyana, Community Liaison Officer of the Gift of the Givers Foundation.

She shared this when the foundation delivered food parcels on the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on 29 June 2022, as part of a partnership that started in 2020.

Nkwanyana said: “Some students at most tertiary institutions come from disadvantaged backgrounds and with the high unemployment rate, there is less support coming from families. The foundation is glad to assist, especially in alleviating poverty.”

The partnership started on the Qwaqwa Campus and has since expanded to all campuses. UFS students who successfully applied for support receive nutritional food parcels from the foundation on a monthly basis.

Annelize Visagie, Senior Officer in the Food Environment Office within the Division of Student Affairs, said the UFS has noted an ever-increasing number of students needing support. The donation from the foundation will see our students “having enough food for the third quarter”.

Visagie said: “This is part of the UFS Food Environment Strategy and the donation will be distributed to students on all three UFS campuses. We have a crisis on our hands; I call on all organisations and individuals who are able to support us to please do so.”

“Students go hungry and need our support, especially during the examination period. Without the support from foundations like the Gift of the Givers Foundation, the UFS would not have been able to sustain the support needed by the students,” said Visagie.

Nkwanyana said the Gift of the Givers Foundation “understands the plight of students, and the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us to support each other in times of need, irrespective of race or colour”.

Nkwanyana said: “The foundation is proud to partner with the University of the Free State, because we know all the donated parcels will go to deserving students. All students need to worry about now, is ensuring they pass their studies.”

News Archive

UFS releases draft charter to accelerate transformation

2007-02-02

The University of the Free State (UFS) today released a draft Institutional Charter which is intended to enhance and accelerate the ongoing transformation of the institution towards a non-racial, non-sexist future.

Speaking at the official opening of the university today, the Rector and Vice-chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie, said the draft Institutional Charter, was an important milestone in the transformation debate for the university and the country.

“The draft charter acknowledges that black people, women and people with disabilities have been marginalised from job and developmental opportunities, within the higher education sector and at this university,” Prof Fourie said.

The charter commits the university to meeting the challenges of a transforming higher education institution in a developing society, in particular the challenges of nation-building, reconciliation, redress, non-racialism and non-sexism – and ultimately normalisation – within a high-quality academic institution.

The principles of the draft charter firmly signal the university’s commitment to diversity – attaining and maintaining substantive and sufficient diversity (including multiculturalism and multilingualism) – in its quest for quality and excellence.
Prof Fourie said the draft charter seeks to build consensus among staff and students at the UFS about the ultimate goals of transformation at a higher education institution.

The charter proposes several basic values and principles that should guide the transformation process and at the same time serve as a basis for a future, normalised university - a promised land to transform towards.

The discussion document says academic quality is intrinsically linked to transformation and it commits the university to strengthening the core competencies of research, teaching and learning as well as community service so as to ensure a robust university for future generations.

“Indeed the thousands of matriculants, black and white, who apply to study at the UFS want to study at a good university, and a good university wants to attract the best black and white students and the best black and white staff, male and female,“ Prof Fourie said.

He said the draft charter also seeks to safeguard academic freedom and institutional autonomy as the foundation of critical inquiry and scholarship.

Regarding the critical issue of creating a new institutional culture, the draft charter commits the UFS to creating a sense of belonging for all members of the university – black and white, male and female, of whatever language, religious, cultural or economic background, as well as people with disabilities.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@mail.uovs.ac.za
02 February 2007

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