Help Resthaven for Madiba
Resthaven runs a number of outreach programmes where they feed about 500 people every week.
THE Southern COURIER has nominated Resthaven Ministries as the beneficiary for this year’s charity proceeds from Mandela Day and we are calling on you to help us help the future generations.
It was registered as an NPO on June 7, 2001 and as a Public Benefit Organisation in terms of Section 18A of the Income Tax Act, 1962. (PBO) on June 24, 2006.
First a soup kitchen
However, they have been operating since 1979 when a soup kitchen was set up to cater for the less fortunate in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. Resthaven came into being to provide facilities offering training, medical assistance, accommodation, a place of refuge as well as food, clothing, shelter and care to those in need whether they are children, adults or the aged.
Their objective is to find a need and meet it, and to find a hurt and heal it. This has meant that they have become very active in the community in and around the southern suburbs of Johannesburg with a number of projects directly influencing many lives. They have a number of homes, including a baby sanctuary currently under development where they will look after babies waiting to be adopted. They also have a children’s home for HIV-positive children, two senior homes where they cater for the needs of state pensioners, and a place of refuge located on a farm where they look after homeless men who have fallen on hard times.
Other programmes
Resthaven runs a number of outreach programmes where they feed about 500 people every week. These programmes include working with some of the local schools, old age homes and community centres. Keeping these homes running and feeding all of these people has put the organisation under severe pressure. Their costs continue to spiral with food inflation, utilities and fuel costs, among others, frequently increasing. Fundraising as a result of the current economic conditions world-wide has fallen, with more organisations chasing a shrinking pie. They are looking at a number of revenue-generating projects that will allow them to raise their own working capital and not to have to resort to going into the market for funding.
Basic information
There are many needs in the community today. The poor need housing, the hungry need food, the aged need care, AIDS-infected and -affected babies, children and adults need medical care and they all need love.
Some of the major areas of need are:
• The poor and the homeless
• Abused women and children
• The aged
• Education – primary, secondary and tertiary education
• Job training and job creation
• Rehabilitation for victims of drug and alcohol abuse
• Widows and orphans
Wish list
Resthaven Ministries is always in need of the following items:
Baby needs: Disposable and pull up training nappies, baby food, baby milk formula, fresh fruit and vegetables, Milton solution, aqueous cream, wet wipes, plastic nappy bags, medicine, panel heaters, bed linen, clothing, children’s needs, fresh fruit and vegetables, protein (meat, chicken and fish etc.), non-perishable food, toilet rolls, toothpaste, boys and girls clothing including vests and underwear, early education programmes and toys, playground equipment for toddlers, artificial lawn for the children’s playground and someone to lay about 180m of it.
Other needs: Bakkie for the collection of food and donations, 1.5-ton truck for the collection of food and donations, gas cylinders for the gas heaters, laptops for operations, training facilities to enable them to run training for people in the community, medical aid cover for staff members and residents, funeral cover for staff members and residents, pension/provident fund cover for house moms and caregivers especially, maintenance tools, digital camera, medical beds for a number of frail residents, blood pressure measuring equipment, toiletries for senior citizens, biscuits and sweets for senior citizens, solar heating wherever possible, (including solar geysers, solar lighting and painting of interiors and exteriors of homes.
How can you help?
To help Resthaven Ministries or for more information on how to donate and support this initiative call our COURIER advertising team: Katherine Viviers or Jo-Ann van Tonder on 011 724 7000.
The Southern COURIER will be running a feature in aid of Resthaven Ministries in our edition of July 18 and a portion of the proceeds of this feature will be donated to Resthaven Ministries. We call on all our advertisers to help us to assist Resthaven Ministries in the work they do.
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