THE DEFINITIVE TRUCKING SITE

April 2009

Isuzu Trucks South Africa has always taken trucking to heart in a very meaningful way. Back in 2000, they donated vehicles to Operation Rachel, a project engaged in clearing landmines in Mozambique, helping to save lives and limbs and bringing a sense of normality to a country beleaguered and scarred from years of civil war. Isuzu Trucks recently once again opened its heart and contributed a vehicle to help transport five tons of food to a starving village in another beleaguered country, this time Zimbabwe, which lies in ruins, its people dying of hunger and disease under the tyrannical heels of one Robert Mugabe who will surely go down in history as one of Africa’s most disgusting and inhuman dictators.

Left to right (clockwise) Adam Woolridge of New Resolution Geophysics donated a ton of sugar and maize meal for starving villagers in Zimbabwe.  Jennifer Des-Fountain abandoned plans for her 50th birthday party in favour of a food drive for starving Zimbabweans.  Jennifer Des-Fountain, flanked by daughter Talia Day (left) and former Isuzu Trucks customer care and marketing manager Laureen Stock.  Sustenance for the starving. Foodstuff, donated by caring South Africans, destined for Zimbabwe where people are dying of hunger and disease.

Jennifer Des-Fountain, an executive life coach, had an epiphany on the eve of her 50th birthday. She was sitting in her Johannesburg, Blairgowrie home watching television while writing an invitation list for a planned birthday party when a programme came on about people starving in Zimbabwe. 

“There was woman with a small child scraping the remains of food out of a pot,” she recalls, “I could see the landscape behind her was bare of fields and crops. They had nothing. My birthday party suddenly seemed meaningless. I thought: OK, no party. Instead, I asked my guests to bring mielie meal and dried fruit and I ended up with enough food to fill the boot of my car.” 

One friend, Mike Hook, told her about a Zimbabwean waiter he had met at a local restaurant. “The waiter, whose name was Thulani, told Mike that his entire village were without food and were actually starving.” It was at that moment Des-Fountain decided to feed an entire village. 

Des-Fountain says from then on the project gained a momentum of its own. She tells of how she was driving home in her car listening to Radio 702. “They were talking about food shortages so I phoned in to ask them (702) to donate 10 kgs of maize meal for me to take to Thulani’s village.” 

She says the next thing she knew she was on air telling the listeners about the village and what she was doing to help. “My telephone never stopped ringing with calls from all kinds of people offering food and assistance,” she says. “South Africans really opened their hearts to help. Lots of people said they wanted to help but didn’t know how.” 

Now she had a problem. How to move all that that food 700 km to the village. She realised she needed much more than a bakkie. She needed a truck. 

And this is where fate, providence, destiny - call it what you will - stepped in. One of the listeners who heard her appeal on the radio worked for Momentum McCann, an advertising agency who had a client in the trucking business – Isuzu South Africa. 

The agency phoned Isuzu Trucks’ former marketing manager Laureen Stock and told her about Des-Fountain’s project. The rest is history. Stock contacted Des-Fountain and the ‘Kindness grows Kindness’ food mission was ready to roll. 

The very same day Stock phoned around the company’s dealer network and came up with an Isuzu NQR 500 complete with driver and fuel, more than capable of moving Des-Fountain’s food mountain. 

Designed for the long run. Isuzu Trucks South Africa contributed this NPR Smoother to transport four tons of donated food to Zimbabwe.

There was a definitive buzz in the air when FleetWatch arrived at Des- Fountain’s house. Adam Woolridge from a company called New Resolution Geophysics had arrived with a ton of sugar for the village. The car-port was packed with everything from cooking oil, maize meal, rice, flour, sugar, packets of soup and dozens of different canned goods. All-in-all, about five tons of food had been donated by generous South Africans. 

The truck arrived and the loading began. Des-Fountain, accompanied by an entourage of ten assistants, planned to leave at first light, meaning that within 48 hours the truck would be unloaded and the food delivered to the village priest who, in turn, would hand it out to the villagers. 

Full marks must go to Isuzu Trucks South Africa for their superbly fast response to Des-Fountain’s appeal. In these days of harsh economics, it is heart warming to see the trucking industry coming to the party in times of real need. 

As Stock said at the time: “We realised that if one individual could make a sacrifice on her special birthday, then we could make an effort to help make her dream come true.” 

And make the effort they did. Well done Isuzu Trucks!