“Kenyans for Kenya” campaign raises Sh82m

By Peter Orengo

More than 250,000 Kenyans have sent contributions to the Kenyans for Kenya relief kitty.

By Monday evening, more than Sh82 million had been raised through Safaricom’s PayBill line 111111, Airtel Money, Kenya Commercial Bank Account 11 33 33 33 38 and Nakumatt tills.

The first consignment of food aid to the affected areas in Northern Kenya was flagged off at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park at the weekend.

“The response by Kenyans has been overwhelming. Out of every ten shoppers at Nakumatt, seven donate. Kenyans are showing compassion for their brothers and sisters facing famine. In just six days, more than Sh80 million has been raised,” said Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet.

A visit by the media and various CEOs to the affected areas has been planned for Thursday.

Organisations have been encouraged to join the fund with their pledges, planned for a public announcement on Friday at Serena Hotel, Nairobi.

Meanwhile, shoppers will enjoy a convenient option to donate for the cause at all Nakumatt tills in Sh100 denominations.

Nakumatt Holdings, through Managing Director Atul Shah, said it had made a corporate donation of Sh2.8 million comprising of 40 tonnes of high protein fortified foods.

Till donation

Nakumatt’s staff have also pledged to contribute more than Sh500,000.

Shah said the company was optimistic more that Sh10 million would be raised through the till donation option.

“Nakumatt is seeking to enlist the support of our loyal shoppers to raise more than Sh10 million to support the famine relief efforts. Customers wishing to support this campaign will need to alert the check-out tills cashiers to debit Sh100 alongside their normal shopping,” Shah said.

Barclays Bank of Kenya has also launched an employee driven initiative to raise money.  “Barclays has committed to match, shilling for shilling, funds raised by employees for the ongoing drought appeal.

The bank in February contributed Sh12 million to the Red Cross but unfortunately the drought situation has persisted. We therefore are trying our best to raise more money within the bank as well as through the support of our customers and well-wishers,” said Nuru Mugambi, head of Corporate Affairs.

She added: “We therefore are not only raising funds for food and water, but also are working with the Red Cross to identify sustainable programmes we can fund”.

Launched last week, Kenyans for Kenya is an initiative supported by Safaricom Foundation, KCB Foundation and the Media Owners Association.

It aims at raising Sh500 million in four weeks to address short, medium and long-term interventions against the humanitarian crisis in northern Kenya.