March 2021 – Many ways to help Kids Haven

“In a gentle way, each of us have the capacity to shake the world.” Mahatma Gandhi

It is March 2021 – a time to reflect and look back on a year defined by lockdowns and regulations.  We never could have imagined this pandemic, but now we are well into this new normal.

Our greatest reflection, looking back, is that Kids Haven has been able to carry on protecting and caring for children because of YOU – someone who cares about children and families just as much as we do.  This has been an extraordinary time and we are incredibly grateful for every Rand, food item and second hand donation we have received.

We are indeed grateful for your overwhelming generosity this past year but want to take THIS newsletter to share details of how you can continue to help in 2021 in the best way that suits you.

It would be impossible for Kids Haven to offer the quality of care and extent of services on our Government grant alone – that amounts to just 50% of what we need every year.  And it doesn’t cover all the needs we have for extra’s like school fees, special programmes for the children (like our GBV programme we are running) or any of our community work. We need you and your support.

Please take a look at the many options – some are as simple as committing to being a social media CHAMPION for Kids Haven and pressing SHARE on all our posts – broadening our reach and influencing your friends and family.

Or you may be encouraged to commit to our monthly giving programme or be able to facilitate a Company donation.

We hope that there is something that YOU can do.  Kids Haven is a registered public benefit organization and can issue section 18a receipts, our SED certificate confirming our beneficiaries and we are happy to collect donations in kind from your home or office.  School children can earn community hours with us too.

Do you care about the absolute basics – that plate of food or keeping warm as the seasons change?

Our precare team is still working closely with small community organizations to hear about and respond to the needs of vulnerable youth and families.  Can you help us to provide food parcels to families or a meal to a homeless young person?

• Drop off a food parcel containing much-needed basics like mielie meal, rice, beans and soya. Did you know that many families like to cook rice, because it is an easy meal to reheat and eat for lunch the next day? Please include a kilo or two of rice in any food parcel that you make up.
• Children needing community hours earn one hour for every food parcel that they drop off.

https://kidshaven.co.za/community-hours/

• Make your donation directly into our Food Parcel campaign here https://www.givengain.com/cc/nokidgoeshungry/ . We are grateful to companies like Genesis Insurance Brokers and friends like The Angel Network, who give us a monthly donation towards food parcels. But sadly, the need is great and food security is an uphill battle.  You can also make a safe online donation via our website https://kidshaven.co.za/donate/ which also has our bank details.

 

• We are working with families to develop their own food gardens in their homes and communities. You may have seeds, grow your own seedlings or have spare garden implements at home that you are willing to share. Call us on 011 706 7959 or email hello@kidshaven.co.za to support food gardens.

 

 

• The Kids Haven weekly soup kitchen is without any major sponsor. We are providing a bowl of hearty vegetable and bean soup served with fresh bread, every week to between 50 and 80 homeless and street youth and adults. The soup kitchen gives us a chance to offer a caring human connection while also checking on health needs, clothing and shoes, and even helping clients to apply for their identity documents.  It may look just like a single bowl of food, but the contact goes much further than that.  Please contact Susan at sued@kidshaven.co.za if you would like to support this basic care.

 

• Donate a blanket for the Community team to share with families and youth. Please donate any warm blankets you may have, knit and crochet warm knee rugs or make a donation specifically for blankets to Nedbank, account number 1948 063 824 (code 198765) and reference it BLANKETS. If your company can make a donation of a bale of blankets or two, please chat to Connie at connie@kidshaven.co.za and she will arrange to collect them and provide you with the necessary receipts and paperwork.

Do you believe, as Mandela did, in the power of education as the way to change the world?  We do too!  Kids Haven has a multi-pronged approach to making sure every child and young person in our care is busy every day with learning.

• The Kids Haven Community Preschool is a lively place for up to 40 boys and girls between the ages of three and six. A handful of these children live at Kids Haven while most are drawn from our community. We transport up to ten children from the nearby settlement of eMandleni.  These kids are CUTE and eager to learn.  Can you help us?  This programme has one monthly sponsor of R 2 000 but we really need to grow that.  It costs us around R413 per child every month.  Your regular monthly donation could certainly add value and keep a youngster stimulated and learning, getting ready for BIG school.  Join our monthly givers here https://kidshaven.co.za/monthly-debit-order/ and commit to your choice of monthly donation.  We are always happy to receive your second hand toys, games and books for our preschool and appreciate donations of the things we use like POSTER PAINT, crayons, glue, stickers and goodies for art.  Please call 011 706 7959 to share these with us.

 

• School children can earn community hours by creating educational packs for little learners (think of ideas like colouring in books or pictures, a few crayons, a card game or toy) and dropping them off at the Donation Centre at 300 Main Road, Bryanston or in Benoni at 34 Cranbourne Avenue, Benoni. Chat to Lindiwe at volunteers@kidshaven.co.za if you want to find out more or click on https://kidshaven.co.za/community-hours/ for more ideas.

 

• When a child is new to Kids Haven, he or she will be included in the Bridging School programme – a gentle reintroduction to school-learning. Our partners Johnson Matthey and StreetSmart SA keep this programme running well but we are always grateful for donations of learning resources and school stationery for their daily lessons.

 

• We have a LOT of children in a LOT of different schools – 114 kids scattered through 22 schools to be exact. THIS is where we have a very big need for your help. Please visit our special page https://kidshaven.co.za/everychild-an-education/ to see exactly how you can help to support a child in school, helping Kids Haven to manage the school fees, transport and school supplies each child needs.

 

• Money doesn’t grow on trees, but it certainly grows every time you shop at MY SCHOOL partners and have Kids Haven as one of up to three beneficiaries on your My School card. If you are a WOOLIES shopper, then this is one for you. If you already have a My School card, please ADD Kids Haven as a beneficiary https://www.myschool.co.za/supporter/update/  (you can have up to three) or get a new card here https://www.myschool.co.za/supporter/apply/ and just hand it to the teller whenever you shop.  It costs you nothing but My School/My Village pays over a percentage of your spending to Kids Haven.

 

• Oh yes, and if you have any extra EBUCKS, you can easily share them with us by clicking on this link https://www.ebucks.com/web/shop/productSelected.do?prodId=154720562&catId=365579701 and donating any number of eBucks to us.

 

 

• Our Youth skills programme needs your CONNECTIONS – can you share some of your time at work and host a young person to job shadow you for a day? Do you have some ‘real’ work that our youth can volunteer to come and do? We need to show them what real work looks like and let them experience all of the parts of what working means – responsibility, accountability and effort.  This would most suit us if the companies and work opportunities are reasonably close to Benoni.  We would also love to hear from township entrepreneurs who have great ideas and tips and experience to share.  Please chat to adele@kidshaven.co.za or hello@kidshaven.co.za about this.  We need a hand up for our young people!

 

We have a million ideas of how you can help.

Unfortunately, at the moment, we are still not allowing face to face volunteering because of the pandemic, but there are many things that you can do at home to help us out.

• Do you have extra STUFF? Donate your second hand clothing, books, toys or anything really! We have boys and girls of every age, including youth and also share with the community. We have a charity shop to turn the extra things that we receive into money to cover some bills while helping micro-entrepreneurs to on-sell clothing and goods to feed their own families.  We are happy collect from your home or office – call us on 011 706 7959 or email hello@kidshaven.co.za to book the bakkie.  Calvin and Bethuel are strong and capable of carrying and lifting whatever you have to share.

 

• Can you make a donation today? Choose to make a once-off donation today, just because you can! No obligations or strings attached. This is a very welcome gift to us because there is always something that crops up every month – like a hail storm and broken windows last month, and the realization that we need a couple of new foam mattresses for our bigger boys.  You can make your donation safely online https://kidshaven.co.za/donate/ via Payfast, MasterPass or directly donating into our bank account from our bank details on this page.  Please let us know when you do an EFT deposit so that we can be sure to thank you and send you your receipt – pop us an email at hello@kidshaven.co.za

 

• Are you a reader? Do your kids read? Are you tired of paying high prices for books?  We have a beautiful selection of second hand books for all ages that we simply cannot read ourselves.  Your generosity in making book donations is allowing us to read what we need but also sell the extra books to earn an income.  Please contact shop@kidshaven.co.za to ask for our adult catalogue, or find our special Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/PrelovedBooks.KidsHaven.Benoni

 

• Do you live in or around Benoni? We do need volunteers to help us sort our donations and second hand books. Please chat to Lindiwe at volunteers@kidshaven.co.za if you can help us.  There is no contact with children for this volunteering activity and your help once a week really helps us!

 

• Do you play GOLF? We turn 29 years old on the 13^th of October 2021 and are hosting our annual golf day on the 14^th October at the Parkview Golf Club. Join us.  We raise money for school fees while enjoying excellent golf.  Every golfer wins a prize and it is a great day to share the Kids Haven story with friends and colleagues.  Contact Susan at sued@kidshaven.co.za to book your fourball.

 

We are also in need of loads of prizes for the players.  Connie would love to hear from you if you can sponsor a prize connie@kidshaven.co.za

• Do you run? The Two Oceans Marathon is cancelled for another year but the Organizers want runners to come out in 2021 to support their favourite charity. You can do a SCHOOL run for us and raise some cash for our school fees.  Visit the Two Oceans Marathon site and enter here https://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za/  and then head onto our campaign page https://www.givengain.com/cc/tom-2021-virtual-charity-run-for-schooling/ and encourage others to support your run.  We would love to give you one of our special running vests or tees covered in our daisy – Raise R1200 for school fees anytime between the 30^th of March and the 30^th April 2021 and we will send you your Daisy top.  Contact hello@kidshaven.co.za for more info.

 

• Are you an influencer? Be our social media champion and SHARE all of our posts to your own social media. This makes our circle bigger and encourages your friends and family to protect and care for children too.

https://www.facebook.com/kidshavenhome

https://twitter.com/kidshavenhome