Growthpoint Encourages Literacy, Wins Big
Growthpoint Properties is on a roll. The owner, manager and developer of South African and Australian shopping centers has been celebrating all month, first taking home a European Community Award from the International Council of Shopping Centres Foundation, and then winning the big one: the prestigious Albert Sussman International Community Support Award.
The winning program? Growsmart, a school literacy initiative created by Growthpoint Properties. Growthpoint Assistant Regional Manager and Growsmart spokesperson, Jewel Harris, describes the initiative.
“We launched the project in 2010 to promote the importance of literacy among Grades 4, 5 and 6 primary school learners across the Western Cape and to improve their literacy performance in a fun and exciting way,” explains Harris. “To date, Growsmart has grown in leaps and bounds and we are very proud that a total of 168 schools with 62,000 learners in the Cape Town area will be competing in this year’s competition.”
Picture a spelling bee made cooperative. Children are grouped into teams, who compete against other teams to not only accurately spell words, but also to correctly define them and use them in sentences. There are three levels to the competition, and the finale takes place on September 8th, the United Nations’ International Literacy Day.
Shawn Theunissen, Head of Corporate Social Investment for Growthpoint Properties, accepted a commemorative award and financial contribution valuing $10,000 for the Growsmart literacy initiative, a hefty addition to the $5000 already awarded for the European award.
“We are extremely proud of being awarded the Albert Sussman Community Support Award which, with our recent win of the ICSC European Union Award, makes us the first company worldwide to win both accolades. Growthpoint Properties will be handing over the proceeds to Christel House School, our registered charity partner.”
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Amanda
