Business Reporter
OK Zimbabwe, one of the country’s leading supermarket chains celebrated the Heroes’ Holiday school break season with a “Heroes, Write and Win” competition aimed at encouraging school children to write stories about their living heroes and heroines.
The writing competition was held between August 14 and September 18 with over 500 stories received.
“Storytelling is a powerful way in which humans can express themselves,” says OK in a statement. They can show their deepest emotions through pen and paper. It was a beautiful experience to hear different kids telling stories of the people they look up to the most, the people and figures who bring meaning to their lives.
“The competition was run in such a way that the kids would write, visit a store, and drop their physical hand-written letter at any OK or OK Mart store near them. They also had an opportunity to post their stories on the OK and OK Mart Facebook pages with the help of their parents and or guardians. Each single week, the letters would then be read out on live radio and a winner was selected.
“Seeing the business engaging in such heart-warming initiatives, brings to life the fact it is truly a people business.”
OK says when its brands choose to be responsible, they can bring “endless smiles on the faces” of their customers.
“OK Zimbabwe, carries a purpose, which is to make happiness tangible by planting smiles on the employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders and the communities that they operate in. This could be clearly seen in action as many kids walked away with congratulatory hampers and were being rewarded for telling their most authentic stories. The business indicated that they would love to run this initiative on a consistent basis in different ways that engage the kids of school-going age. Equally so, this initiative was quite engaging to the parents and guardians of the kids,” OK revealed.
Recently, the retail chain-listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange opened its Bon Marche branch at the Megawatt complex in Marondera.
The outlet becomes the second Bon Marche branded store outside Harare. The first branch in Bulawayo has since been closed down.
“We definitely would love to see more impactful work coming through from these businesses, as a way to enrich the lives of the customers that they serve,” OK says.