On 9 March 2007, eBucks, South Africa's leading multi-partner rewards programme, gave 20 staff volunteers the day off to participate in CAF Southern Africa's (Charities Aid Foundation of Southern Africa) national corporate volunteer week initiative. eBucks identified greening as its project and spent the day planting a permaculture garden for Swartkop Valley Primary School in Muldersdrift.

eBucks recently partnered with Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA), South Africa's first and only national greening organization, to look at ways that eBucks could play its part in addressing the global warming crisis.

"Everyone has a responsibility to face up to the challenges of global warming. We can no longer ignore the issues and as a company that has always been passionate about sustainability, we have adopted 'greening' as our new corporate social investment project" says Lezanne Human, CEO of eBucks.

eBucks' initial efforts were focused on establishing what its carbon footprint is and identifying ways in which it can become carbon neutral.

Swartkop Valley Primary School's food gardens sustain the school's feeding scheme with organically grown herbs and vegetables. The school has also effectively integrated permaculture into the curriculum. The project's aim is to change the mindset of this peri-urban community and promote permaculture as a sustainable socioeconomic programme.

"School-based food gardens help to create learning environments with a holistic approach where the focus is not only on the learner's academic needs, but also their physical needs. We hope that the short amount of time we have spent at Swartkop Valley Primary School will make a real difference not only today, but also in the future," Human concludes.

FTFA have been operating since 1991 and have to date planted over two million trees.

This eBucks volunteer initiative forms part of The FirstRand Volunteers Programme. The programme was launched in December 2003, to support and encourage FirstRand group employees to participate in community initiatives. Where employees give of their time or money, The FirstRand Matched Funding Programme matches them R1 for R1. Since the programme was launched in 2002, employees have donated R3.7 million to charity organisations, and FirstRand have matched that with a further R3.7million.

eBucks is part of the FirstRand Group of companies and has First National Bank (FNB) as its largest partner.

About eBucks:

eBucks, the rewards programme offered by First National Bank (FNB) and RMB Private Bank, is acknowledged as one of South Africa's leading rewards programmes with highly active members spending in excess of 80% of the eBucks earned in any given month.