There is a particular kind of energy on a golf course when nobody is quite sure whether they are there to compete or to catch up with people they usually only speak to over email or in a meeting.That was the mood at Randpark Golf Club on 16 September 2026, when YuLife South Africa hosted its first Employee Benefits golf day, with FA News as our media partner and our underwriter, Guardrisk, as co-sponsor. The day had a bigger purpose than the leaderboard, and the slogan said it all: ‘A round for the industry, a win for FFSA.’The insurance industry turned out in force. Brokers, insurers, reinsurers and partners swapped the inbox for the first tee, and spent a day doing something that, by the end of it, added up to considerably more than a scorecard.The day raised R50,000 for FoodForward SA. At an average cost of 47 cents per meal, that is in the region of 100,000 meals!The day itselfA shotgun start meant everyone teed off at once, which is the most sociable way to run a day like this. No waiting around, no staggered arrivals, just the whole field out on the course together and the noise carrying between holes from the first swing onwards.The golf ranged from genuinely impressive to enthusiastically terrible. Some groups took the leaderboard extremely seriously. Others treated the round as a four-hour meeting with better scenery. Both approaches were well represented.What made it work was the support and turnout. This is an industry that usually meets across a meeting table, and there is something worth noticing about a day when everyone is pulling in the same direction. The conversations on the course were the kind that do not happen in a boardroom, and the competition stayed exactly as fierce as it needed to be and no more.Why FoodForward SAChoosing where the money went was the easy part.South Africa loses roughly a third of the food it produces every year, while millions of people go without. FoodForward SA exists precisely in that gap. They recover good, edible surplus food from farmers, manufacturers and retailers, the kind that gets written off for a labelling error or a cosmetic imperfection rather than anything actually wrong with it, and redistribute it through more than 2,500 vetted beneficiary organisations across all nine provinces.Early childhood development centres. Community kitchens. Shelters. Programmes supporting the elderly, the unemployed and people living with chronic illness.In their last reported financial year they distributed around 83 million meals and reached roughly 935,000 people every single day, with more than 90% of that food classified as nutritious. And they do it at a cost of about 47 cents a meal, which is a rate of efficiency very few organisations anywhere can match.That is why R50,000 goes as far as it does. The food already exists. What has to be paid for is getting it to the right place in time.Thank you to everyone who made it happenA day like this is entirely dependent on the people willing to back it.A special thank you to Guardrisk, our underwriter, for co-sponsoring the day, and to FA News, our media partner, for helping us bring the industry together.Our sincere thanks to our sponsors: JMR, UCook, Fairheads, Brokstock, Lyra Southern Africa, 27 Four, Munich RE and PKF. And a particular thank you to Garmin, our prize sponsor, who gave everyone something genuinely worth playing for and made the closing holes a good deal more tense than they might otherwise have been.Most of all, thank you to every player who gave up a working day to be there. The donation is yours as much as anyone’s.“At YuLife we talk a lot about looking at people’s wellbeing holistically, and you can’t do that honestly in South Africa without talking about food. For a lot of families, it’s the most immediate pressure there is. FoodForward SA does something really practical about it, and they do it incredibly efficiently.What I loved about the golf day was seeing the industry come together for it. Brokers, insurers, partners and friends, all out on the course for the same cause, and it added up to meals for thousands of people. That’s the kind of day I’d happily repeat every year…” Jaco Oosthuizen, Managing Director, YuLife South AfricaBeyond the golf dayFoodForward SA is a long-term charity partner of YuLife South Africa, so this was an addition to something already running rather than a one-off.Through the YuLife Reward Store, our members can direct the YuCoin they earn from everyday healthy habits to FoodForward SA. A lunchtime walk, a few minutes of mindfulness, a decent night’s sleep. Small things, quietly becoming meals for families who need them.If you would like to support FoodForward SA directly, whether with food, funds or expertise, you can find out more at foodforwardsa.org.To everyone who played, sponsored, donated or simply turned up: thank you. We will see you the same time next year.About YuLifeYuLife is working to reimagine the insurance industry by protecting lives, rewarding living and inspiring life. We're on a mission to transform traditional insurance into a life-enhancing experience that each employee will value and use daily.How does it work?Our award-winning app uses behavioural science and game mechanics to reward your people for living well while offering protection in case of crisis. And with our top-rated employee assistance programme, your team gets access to mental, financial and social support, virtual GPs, nutritionists, life coaches and more to help them live their best lives. Because we believe that your employees should benefit from their insurance from day one and that wellbeing should be accessible every day, for everyone.Request a demo for your team today: (https://yulife.com/za)Sources:*FoodForward SA published impact figures, previous financial year**FoodForward SA organisational information, foodforwardsa.org*