As winter temperatures continue to affect vulnerable communities across Namibia, initiatives that provide warmth, food and essential supplies have become increasingly important in supporting those most in need. 

In partnership with the Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM), the NBC Cares Winter Drive Volume 2 has come to the aid of vulnerable community members.

Members of the public flocked to a Windhoek shopping centre in large numbers to receive essential items as part of the NBC Cares Winter Drive. 

Elderly residents, persons with disabilities, homeless individuals, and other vulnerable members of the community formed queues as they waited to benefit from the annual outreach initiative.

The initiative aims to ease the burden faced by vulnerable communities during the country's cold winter months while encouraging a culture of compassion and shared responsibility.

'This translates the NBC's public mandate into tangible assistance beyond broadcasting,' says the Chief Commercial Officer at NBC, Nico Mwiya.

"Our mandate is basically to inform the nation, but we cannot inform the nation, educate the nation, and entertain the nation without caring for the nation. Therefore, this initiative gives us that platform to show the Namibian people that as much as we are a public enterprise with a key mandate that allows us to talk to each and every household in the country and beyond, we do have a softer part as well to provide to the community that we serve. Today's engagement is basically to give what we have collected together with our strategic partner, NIPAM, as well as the NBC employees, because what we did for the past few weeks was run an in-house campaign for our colleagues in the office to share in terms of the goods and services that they want to share with the needy community."

NIPAM's Marketing and Strategic Relations Manager, Johannes Hatutale, described the Winter Drive as an opportunity for NIPAM to contribute directly to nation-building and community development, while expressing appreciation for NBC's role in creating a platform that enables institutions to give back to society.

"We all know that NIPAM is a public institution, just like NBC. We all have the same shareholder. And our mandate is clear, to transform the public sector through capacity building. After this initiative, we realised that as an institution that develops people for public service, NIPAM understands that the service starts with co-creation. This partnership reflects our commitment to nation-building beyond training rooms."

Beneficiary Merita Rooinasie expressed gratitude.

The event saw items such as blankets, sanitary pads, clothing, hot meals and other essential items being distributed.