Pictured: LEFT to RIGHT: Jean-Pierre Ducournau, CEO Ducournau Transports; Thérèse Ducournau; Anders Lindblad, chairman of the board of Star For Life; and Jean-Noël Thénault, president of Volvo Trucks France; holding the cheque made out to Star For Life

Proceeds of €150 000 [Euros] (R1.79 million) from an eBay charity auction for the first new Volvo FH, has been donated through Star For Life to fund educational programmes at the Mpontsheng Secondary School in Katlehong, Johannesburg.

Volvo Trucks and Ducournau Transports gave the Star For Life non-profit organisation the largest donation ever made to a school included in its HIV preventive programme. Over the next six years, the money will fund Star For Life’s educational programmes at Mpontsheng Secondary School.

Green Ngogodo, principal at Mpontsheng, says: “I feel honoured and extremely happy. I strongly believe that Star For Life’s contribution will change the situation of our school.”

Star For Life is a non-profit organisation that aims to motivate young people to believe in their dreams and future. It works to prevent HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancies among young students. HIV/AIDS is a massive problem in South Africa, with nearly 25% of the adult population infected.

Volvo Trucks’ sponsorship of Star For Life began in 2008 and has now expanded to include 17 high schools. Before the launch of the new Volvo FH in September 2012, Volvo Trucks decided to auction off the very first series-manufactured truck on eBay. The winning bid was to be given in its entirety to a school within the Star For Life programme.

“I am very pleased to be able to help these children. Those of us who can must help others less fortunate. I hope the money will do a lot of good for the school,” says Jean-Pierre Ducournau, owner and founder of Ducournau Transports and winner of the eBay auction.

The money will be used by Star For Life to provide training and counselling, to award scholarships to students and to fund the construction of a new library; a resource that is lacking in many South African schools.

“The Star For Life programme has produced fantastic results. The students get better grades, there is less absenteeism, there are fewer teenage pregnancies and lower incidences of HIV,” says Anders Lindblad, chairman of the board of Star For Life. “I hope the result will be as good in Mpontsheng as it has been in the other schools where Volvo Trucks sponsors Star For Life.”

“For Volvo Trucks, this is an opportunity to support concrete steps in the fight against one of the biggest health risks to young people in South Africa,” says Claes Nilsson, president of Volvo Trucks. “Donating the proceeds from the eBay auction of the first Volvo FH to Star For Life was a really easy decision.”

Watch the Youtube film from the event at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b67M5W3G7os