Guests at a gala dinner to raise funds for the proposed Joza Community Centre enjoyed music and a three-course meal as they heard why the facility is just what Child Welfare Grahamstown needs.
Guests at a gala dinner to raise funds for the proposed Joza Community Centre enjoyed music and a three-course meal as they heard why the facility is just what Child Welfare Grahamstown needs.
Walter Eksteen, organiser of the event in the Diocesan School for Girls' Lilla Strong Hall, told the crowd that the experience of being emergency foster parents to a baby for a month made him and his wife Natasha resolve that they wanted to do more.
He used a video to show what the current facilities are and the plans to expand.
The generous well-heeled and their guests saw models of plans for a Community Hall, a kitchen and three additional pre-school classes.
The aim of the Community Hall is to provide a safety zone for vulnerable children in Grahamstown; where they are not only taken care of, but are also able to learn new skills. The project will also be a venue for training programmes in parenting skills.
The purpose of the Gala Dinner was to launch the fundraising campaign for this project as well as to bring the Grahamstown community together for a worthy cause.
The many pledges, donors and volunteers who have contributed to the project thus far were in attendance. The guests were welcomed with a glass of sherry.
Jay Pillay, chairperson of the Grahamstown Child Welfare Society, gave encouraging words on how the community needs people to come together and make a change.
“The Grahamstown community is one of the most caring communities,” Pillay said.
Eksteen emphasised the importance of international traction to make the project more successful. This would be made possible through the Indiegogo website, which allows for world-wide donations to be made to the initiative. After the meal, guests made their way forward to fill out donation forms.
“Hopefully the next dinner we have is the official opening of the Joza Community Centre,” Pillay said. Child Welfare Grahamstown's first Ikhaya Losizo home was built in 2007 with money raised by Rhodes University students and was fully occupied in 2009.
Two additional homes were funded by The National Lottery Distribution Fund. Each home has six foster children and one foster mother.
Child Welfare provides training and comfortable accommodation for the foster mothers.
To make a donation go to the Indiegogo link: http://igg.me/at/gtownwelfare
