Sue Lubbe and Friends ask for community support in Joburg south
Having served the Johannesburg south community for 25 years, the organisation still vows to bring change to its people.
The charity Sue Lubbe and Friends in Suideroord, Johannesburg South, asks for public help with donations to mark the organisation’s 25th birthday.
Sue Lubbe and Friends, an NPO, runs a feeding scheme that feeds over 480 children at WH Coetze Primary School and Fakkel High School.
This initiative ensures learners from disadvantaged backgrounds start the day on a full stomach to perform well in their studies.
The organisation is busy with its Stay Warm Day, which began on April 27 and ends in August or September, depending on the amount of funding and products Sue Lubbe and Friends get together to help the people of the south.
Stay Warm Day has run since 2005. The organisation provides a cup of hot soup to learners, teachers, the school office, and ground staff.
It is currently sorting out a kitchen donated to them in 2007 when they revamped the school.
According to Sue Lubbe, the founder of Sue Lubbe and Friends, her organisation raised R600 000 in products and kind, but after so many years, they need to backtrack and tidy up the kitchen because it is full of mould due to a leaking geyser.
“We are in the process of getting it repainted. The kitchen’s first coat was applied, and we also require a new fridge for the feeding scheme kitchen.”
Another item desperately needed is a freezer that locks because they need to secure food donated weekly by Woolworths.
Sue Lubbe and Friends asks people to lend a helping hand and support it in any way possible.
The charity has worked with several organisations such as St Mary’s Children’s Home, the Johannesburg Children’s Home, the Harvey Cohen Centre, Huis Talje Home for the mentally challenged (Bela Bela), The Hamlet Foundation and the blind society in Johannesburg. Some of the organisations still work closely with Sue Lubbe and Friends.
Annual projects
January – Sue Lubbe and Friends raise donations of stationery and school clothes and or shoes and start the New Year feeding scheme applications.
February – The organisation takes cookies to the old age homes for Valentine’s Day and, if they are lucky, they get loads of flowers donated by the Woolworths group that the organisation hands out to the Owlies – the Sue Lubbe and Friends seniors.
March and April – Sue Lubbe and Friends rappelled for Easter eggs, distributing them to children’s homes, old age homes and more.
May to August – Stay Warm Day in May, extended when necessary, when winter still brings cold weather at the start of spring.
October to December – Raise gifts for the elderly and children’s homes (abled and disabled) on or between December 16 and Christmas Day.
Sponsors needed
“We host 550 senior citizens for a Christmas lunch. We often make roast potatoes, rice, veggies, salad and desserts. It is a great success annually. In better times, we even handed out a little gift pack of toiletries, treats, and more.
“It has been more difficult to make gifts other than what we collect from October to December. It can be difficult because we often have to put our hands in our pockets to buy a few inexpensive items for our beneficiaries.
“Needy people appreciate anything they can get for the festive season, but a wonderful gift to seniors is a hamper of bits and pieces needed for day-to-day living,” explained Lubbe.
Since Covid, the organisation lost nine major sponsors, some of which had worked with them since its inception in 1999.
This caused a huge financial gap, and now they have to make ends meet for food hampers and warm items they hand out to needy families.
“Before Covid-19 in 2020, we fed 124 831 people. We are starting our wish list to help over 125 000 individuals. We need to strive to do better all the time. We work with many charities in the south, and they benefit from our donations throughout the year.”
How you can help
Private schools can contribute to Stay Warm Day in winter by donating items such as soup greens and fillers.
People can make weekly bread donations. The larger companies and private firms can donate money.
“We need the feeding scheme groups to have a better system of feeding the learners, where they can sit down and eat rather than stand around and find a spot to eat in private. There is one high school fed from the library with no seating. We need tables and chairs or long dining tables and chairs,” explained Lubbe.
Some donated money will buy groceries that the needy families can take home to help their parents and siblings.
Sue Lubbe and Friends is a registered NPO, meaning people who donate over R500 can get tax rebate certificates.
“If they make monthly donations of that amount, they get a Section 18a certificate of R500 multiplied by 12,” said Lubbe.
Lubbe, a health and human rights activist, runs the organisation.
She saw the need to launch it in 1999 after her sister’s painful death. Barbara Whittaker passed away from bedsores at the Natalspruit Hospital. Lubbe then saw the need for someone to stand up for the needy, and that person was her.
Lubbe extended gratitude and appreciation to all the groups networking with Sue Lubbe and Friends, their sponsors, and friends of the charity.
For more information, call Lubbe on 071 355 0426.
