As Fiat celebrates its 125th anniversary globally, Stellantis South Africa and its Fiat dealers set out to give back, packing Fiat Fiorinos on their showroom floors with blanket donations from their staff, the surrounding communities and customers. The consolidated collection was handed over to the Society of St Vincent De Paul (SSVP) for distribution to the St Teresa Home in Yeoville in Johannesburg.

Fiat’s relationship with SSVP is an established one, with the organisation having purchased a Fiat Fiorino in June. “The opportunity to amplify the relationship with SSVP was immediately obvious for Stellantis, and we initiated the collective efforts of our network to make a small difference amid the icy Johannesburg winter,” says Stellantis South Africa Managing Director, Mike Whitfield.

The Fiat Fiorino Cargo sets out to conquer two commercial vehicle objectives: exceptional levels of functionality with comfortable ease of operation. The versatile panel van is ideally suited to SSVP’s needs of moving all sorts of cargo between the various causes it supports, from food parcels, clothing, various donated items, all helping to improve the lives of those in need, to the most fundamental winter staple: blankets.

“While the SSVP appreciates charity as an organisation, our dependants are absolutely reliant on it,” says Peter Keshwar from the society. “The initiative from Stellantis South Africa to fill our own Fiat Fiorino with blankets from their own community will make a great difference to many, many lives surviving the chilly Joburg winter. It’s something we didn’t expect as a customer; but that we are very excited about.”