El-Shammah Home for Abandoned Babies and Place of Safety received a loving visit from representatives of CIB Insurance Administrators, last Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really appreciate the love and care we received from CIB today, it was overwhelming,\u201d said the founder of the centre, Bertha Spies.<\/p>
\u201cOur staff here raised R20 000 in the past three months through cakes sales,\u201d said CIB\u2019s marketing team leader, Michele van der Walt.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, each month we have a cake sale hosted by a different department within the company.<\/p>
\u201cThe departments have been really creative these past three months and really come up with great ways to raise money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an amazing achievement for us, as this was done purely by the staff themselves and it is a great team-building exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really proud of our staff for this great achievement, coming together for a worthy cause.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van der Walt also told the GCN that they bought items with the money raised.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bought R20 000 worth of items that the home has listed on their wish list; they included nappies, baby food, cleaning detergents and donated baby clothes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to raise funds every month, but realised that we raise more over a longer period and are, therefore, able to buy more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage other companies to look into it as well; it’s fun and for a good cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are also looking to raise funds for the Germiston SPCA over the next three months.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Spies, there are a lot of abandoned babies in South Africa, which is one of the reasons this home was established six years ago, in 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is their place of safety,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Spies said the centre caters only for infants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have the facilities for toddlers and it is for that reason that we care only for infants up to 18 months or two years,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have babies who are under three months old.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have staff who are well trained to care for our babies and they always give them love, because that is what we are about, love.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unfortunate part is that it is very costly to care for a baby for just a month. Donations help us a lot, they go a long way and we appreciate everything we get as this makes it financially easier to cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you to all those who donated on Mandela Day and throughout the year.<\/p>\n
”We also appreciate the help of the volunteers, without the community and love, we can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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