Ford Rangers make a difference during COVID-19
Many would have wondered whether 2020’s festive period would contain the traditional joy and caring spirit as previous years, after what has been nothing short of a challenging, unpredictable year. However, a recent media event that traversed the Eastern Cape as part of the Ford South Africa’s RangeHer initiative, proved to be just the sort of tonic needed to restore a sense of unity and compassion among some of the most vulnerable South Africans affected by the virus.
Ford South Africa’s RangeHer initiative, launched last month, comprises several media activations that will continue to evolve and expand until mid-2021. The central theme is designed to demonstrate that the combination of the versatile Ford Ranger, together with adventurous women, results in a powerful alchemy that can lead to great achievements and make a tangible difference. To prove this wasn’t some hollow narrative, we headed out to Eastern Cape’s lesser-known towns, schools and hospitals to show our moxie in the distribution of COVID-19 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in an area that is currently suffering from the highest rate of infection.
Ford Rangers to the rescue!
Although Ford was not packaging this RangeHer ‘Drives with a Mission’ as a new vehicle launch, it was this writer’s second time taking the recently-launched Ranger Thunder, with its sporty red accents and now-proven dust-proof roller shutter, on a long trip - followed by a colourful convoy of Ranger Raptors and Ranger Wildtraks. Adding to the Thunder’s heady sense of occasion was the sight of the locally-manufactured water basins and tanks loaded securely on the back, ready to be delivered to those rural schools currently unable to practice correct sanitisation.
Related: Top 5 reasons to fall in love with the Ford Ranger Thunder
Leaving Port Elizabeth for the first overnight stop at Willowmore provided a sobering wave of humility, particularly as the infrastructure around us began to degrade and thin, cellular reception flickered and gravel sections aimlessly connected small towns with even smaller schools. After silently doubting that there couldn’t possibly be a school this far from town, the RangeHer convoy arrived at the small metal gate that marked the entrance to Bronville School in Rietbron. After a short tour of the school’s grounds by the headmaster, two flow-bin handwash stations were offloaded from the Ford Rangers and the 1000 litre tanks positioned under existing rain water collection points. Three hundred soaps for each basin were also provided by Ford to ensure clean hands at all times.
The second day was equally heart-warming as the RangeHer convoy fanned out of Willowmore early morning en-route to Knysna. To date 85 employees from Ford’s Silverton Assembly Plant – the same facility where production of Ranger and Everest takes place - have produced almost 190 000 COVID-19 protective face shields, and RangeHer provided an ideal opportunity to distribute these. A scheduled stop at Willowmore clinic provided media with the chance to donate a thousand of these protective face shields, with the clinic’s staff unable to hide the overwhelming excitement and gratefulness that they felt.
The RangeHer initiative continued to deliver COVID-19 PPE the following week, with a return loop through Port Elizabeth and concluding back where it started in Johannesburg. Not only did the trip prove that the Ford Ranger is one of the most complete and capable vehicles out there, it also highlighted what we’ve known all along – that bakkies and women are an unstoppable combination!
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