“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.” – Margaret Mead.
South African clothing retail giant PEP, together with the nation’s biggest good news provider #ImStaying, are now making it easier for customers to put words into action and change someone’s world by caring. The Lay-By Buddy initiative will provide a much-needed financial reprieve to many of PEP’s lay-by customers.
PEP CEO, Jaap Hamman, explains that it was, one of the chain’s customers who initially sparked the idea of the lay-by buddy initiative on the #ImStaying Facebook Group in December, “These random acts of kindness grew and ultimately culminated in one amazing citizen paying off all the lay-bys in a PEP store in December. We simply had to help contribute and started by donating R50,000 to the #ImStaying community initiative. At PEP, we felt that it was also our duty to encourage the ongoing support of this generous idea by making the process much easier. As a result, the Lay-by Buddy initiative was borne”
At the time, the #ImStaying Facebook group was inundated with photos and posts of gratitude as the wave of kindness swept through the movement. Stayers, as the members of the group are known, walked into PEP stores around the country asking to pay for any back-to-school lay-byes that still needed to be collected.
“ We are incredibly excited to be partnering with PEP on this amazing initiative and look forward to growing and encouraging more of this corporate behaviour as we make our way out of the situation we are in as a country and as a people. If ever there was a time to unite our efforts and work together, that time is now.” Jarette Petzer, Founder of #ImStaying.
Making a meaningful difference in someone’s life has never been easier. Simply request a Lay-by Buddy voucher at your local PEP store or select the Lay-By Buddy option on their website www.pepstores.com. Choose an amount you are willing to pay (starting from R10) and PEP will do the rest by allocating that amount as a credit to a random lay-by customer. It really is that easy!
Imagine the overwhelming relief and joy in learning that your lay-by order has been paid by a total stranger. What can compare to the feeling of knowing that you have played your part in helping a family in need by paying off their lay-by? The new Lay-by Buddy initiative allows YOU to make a difference in someone else’s life.
PEP stores Kick-started the new Lay-by Buddy initiative with a R1-million contribution. A randomly selected group of PEP’s customers will be delighted in discovering that their lay-bys have been paid off partially or in full.
“A huge percentage of the current lay-bys at Pep are for winter wear, baby and children’s clothing. These are absolutely essential items for families,” adds van der Merwe, “and we want to make sure that the loss of income during the Covid-19 crisis doesn’t mean that children especially, have to suffer from the cold this winter.”
