‘More You’ Programme gives Joyce her dream back

At RCL FOODS our people are our biggest asset – and when they fly, we all fly. Our MORE YOU Programme, which consists of four short modules aims to empower our general workers to achieve more in their personal and work lives by being MORE CURIOUS and MORE BRAVE.

This inspiring story of Joyce Grootboom proves that when we are More Curious and More Brave, we really can reach our goals and make a difference.

Joyce is a general worker at the Consumer Grocery site in Molteno, Eastern Cape. She started a recycling project with her husband in 2006, but when he passed away Joyce had so much on her plate that she had to put the project aside. When the Consumer Learning Function piloted the MORE YOU programme in Molteno last year, its final challenge struck a chord with her:

“Be More Curious and More Brave by finding a project that can have More Impact in your personal or work life. Be Brave, do something that could benefit your community. Be More Open to share what you will learn with your family, friends and community. Have More Speed by understanding

what you need to do so that you don’t waste time on your project. Be More You, let us get to know who you are; and lastly don’t forget to have some Fun on the way.”

Inspired to be part of something bigger than her, Joyce decided to restart her recycling project and present it as part of her final assessment for the MORE YOU Programme.

After Joyce began recycling again in April 2018, her mother Mirriam Grootboom and three volunteers joined her to help. It cost R50 to transport their first load of plastic bottles to the recycling site in town, but within a month Joyce had made her first R250 in profit. Since then, she has made a profit of R17 760 which is helping her support her family.

By getting the whole community involved in collecting recyclable waste in exchange for a little money to feed their families, Joyce is helping boost the local economy and cleaning up the environment too (not to mention helping people see waste as a valuable resource)! It shows that with a little initiative and using what’s in our hands, we can make a change for the better.