The National Employment Council for the Funeral Industry (NECFI) has stepped forward to address a critical need in mental healthcare, donating a two-month supply of medication for mental health-related illnesses to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
This significant contribution follows a successful mental health awareness and charity golf tournament hosted by NECFI last month.
The inaugural golf tournament, held in the capital, brought together nearly 40 organizations from NECFI's membership, including prominent funeral service providers such as Doves, Nyaradzo, Moonlight, and Old Mutual.
The event aimed to raise funds and support mental health and wellness programs, recognizing the growing importance of this issue within society.
Yesterday, the Independent Chairperson of NECFI, Nhamo Kwaramba, officially handed over the proceeds to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
During the handover, Kwaramba highlighted the purpose of the initiative and pledged to make it an annual event.
"We took an initiative having noted that the issue of mental health and wellness is topical and we really feel that we have a role to play addressing the issue," Kwaramba stated. "And in the search of the solutions we came up with a program in which we had to host a golf tournament event in terms of trying to create awareness and ensure that the people participate."
Kwaramba expressed satisfaction with the turnout and support received.
"We are quite happy that we managed to get support from our membership more than 15 companies participated and they've also other companies from other different industry sectors who participated. We also had individuals and the major objective was to create awareness so the coming together of people from different facets of life was the major highlights that we creating that awareness people coming together in sporting activities. I think the impact is so wide because we reached out to a number of organizations and individuals. And we are thinking that we are going to have this event annually."
He further explained the choice of beneficiary.
"We partnered with Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals because they are a force to reckon with in the health sector and we feel that our small contribution, in a small way that we've supported, it's going to go a long way. We anticipate that we have to do more. Of course, you can see that this is what we've managed to do but we think that next year and years to come, we are going to do more," Kwaramba said.
Parirenyatwa Acting Chief Medical Officer, Morgan Mhlanga, stressed the profound significance of NECFI's gesture.
"There is no gift which is small and this precious gift is actually going to help a lot of our patients," Mhlanga said. "As you have heard from our chief pharmacist these drugs are going to save a lot of lives psychotic patients. Without this drugs hey can kill themselves, they can kill others and do a lot of harm to other people. So what you have done is very remarkable and as partner we are very very grateful for your gift which has given us."
Mhlanga acknowledged the escalating challenges posed by mental health issues in society.
"We all know that mental health is actually increasing in our society, causing a lot of problems in our society and you thought outside the box on what you can do in order to also assist as far as these problems."
He expressed immense gratitude for the donation's immediate impact.
"We are happy that your donation will cover us for the next two months and it's actually going to help us a lot. We are very pleased to receive that consignment and we encourage you to really spread the message and converse for more donations like this because they are going to really help us," Mhlanga concluded.
NECFI, a statutory body established through the Labour Amendment Act 56, plays a crucial role in representing both employers and employees within the funeral sector.
Its mandate encompasses promoting social justice and democracy in the workplace, ensuring fairness in employee standards, and facilitating the swift resolution of workplace disputes.
