Caxton publications, businesses team up to spread Christmas cheer
AJP Group and Pick n Pay Stonehill Crossing sponsor Christmas presents for little ones at Tshepang Care Centre.
To spread Christmas cheer, Kempton Express, Thembisan and Germiston City News partnered to kick off a Christmas gift collection for 87 identified children at Tshepang Care Centre in Thembisa.
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The above came after GCN journalist Obedience Mkhabela recently extended a helping hand to this Thembisa-based NPO that cares for about 400 children from the community of Thembisa, particularly from Vusimuzi informal settlement.
Obedience recently handed boxes of sandwiches over to Tshepang with the support of a Primrose-based charity iThemba Soup Kitchen and its founder, Jenny Scheigansz.
The news teams called on readers to support this gift collection by donating toys for the children for Christmas presents.
Much to our delight, AJP Group, well known to the Kempton Park community, and its Pick n Pay Stonehill Crossing branch in Greenstone, did not hesitate to support this #CaxtonCares initiative as they stepped up to the plate to sponsor all 87 Christmas presents.
The news teams collected the gifts in Greenstone on Wednesday.
All 87 gifts were beautifully wrapped with each recipient’s age, name and gender.
The presents were handed over and distributed to the children on Thursday morning by Express, GCN and
Thembisan journalists that provided for many little faces lighting up with joy.
About the centre
Tshepang Care Centre cares for orphans, vulnerable children and the needy.
In 2012, Sarah Sibiya and her family identified families in the Vusimuzi who were destitute and in dire need of help.
The plan was to supply these families with monthly groceries and clothing donations.
Over the ensuing months, more and more families, mostly from child-headed households and single-parented homes, approached Sibiya for similar donations.
It became apparent to her that more families needed help.
Like in most informal settlements throughout the country, Vusimuzi has a high level of unemployment and most of the people in the community are struggling to make ends meet.
Sibiya also realised that most of the children in the community were orphans, staying with grandparents and with no regular meals. Some children would go to bed without food, while others sourced food from nearby dumpsites.
She built a shelter from corrugated iron where she could provide the children with at least one decent meal for the day and a safe place for them to be cared for during the day.
This is how Tshepang Care Centre was born. Tshepang, which means “have hope”, was registered as an NPO in January 2013.
The centre relies on donations to continue its service to the area.
With the support of big business in 2018, containers and funds were donated to build proper structures and buildings. The care centre is now equipped with a kitchen, library, an early childhood development (ECD) facility, three bedrooms and an office.
The ECD facility caters for underprivileged children for free and the library is a resource centre for learners, students and the community.
Because of a growing need, the centre expanded to cater to teenagers’ social development to assist t
hem with their schoolwork and expose them to individuals and other entities. This is to stimulate and contribute to their mental, emotional and spiritual growth.
The centre also has a vegetable garden for its own needs.
For more information about the centre, phone Sibiya on 082 720 3732.
The Express, Thembisan and GCN teams thank AJP Group and Pick n Pay Stonehill Crossing for their support of this initiative.
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