Issue 07
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Rotary International’s drive to rid the world of polio. The disease is now limited to a few countries. Philanthropists Bill Gates and Bono work with Rotary because they know their donations go to people in need and not on fancy offices. However, like many other organisations, Rotary at club level has the challenge of attracting new members. The “online” generation find it convenient to give to charity through crowdfunding apps on the web. People also lead busy lives. To accommodate these lifestyle changes Rotary successfully launched online Rotary clubs, called eClubs, with members anywhere in the world. In the real world, our club meets for breakfast every week. Using the skills of our members, we identify needs and try to make a difference. We have fun, invite guest speakers and respond to appeals. These include education projects, providing water to communities, emergency relief, developing leadership skills and fostering entrepreneurship. One of our initiatives is called the “Two Rander”. We have developed a warm relationship with the shoppers at Windermere Centre. Several times a year we put up our banners outside Checkers and engage shoppers. We offer them a R2 coin, attached to a slip of paper with the Rotary logo. It explains we are collecting non-perishable items for distribution to communities in need. These include oldage homes, orphanages, the homeless and for disaster relief. Shoppers are asked to use the R2 coin towards
buying a non-perishable item to put into the trolleys we have outside the store entrance. People are very generous. Most will donate a tin of food, bag of rice or maize meal. It is humbling when folk who don’t have much themselves, give to others in need. The Two Rander campaign works. Our most recent drive gave out about R800 in R2 coins. Within a few hours we had five big trolley loads of donations, worth several thousand rand. Most people give the R2 coins back and
add a cash donation. The items were donated to two retirement homes where the elderly have little money for food after paying rent. Also, an inner-city outreach programme that feeds the homeless and an NGO that looks after orphans. In this case, by offering our time and “treasure” we made a difference, however small, in the lives of several hundred people. by Deon Delport, a member of the Rotary Club of Durban Umhlatuzana.
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NOVBEMBER 2019
35
TAFTA Tafta is an organisation legend for its stellar work helping the elderly. It has 14 facilities reaching approximately 10 000 elders within their homes and in the KZN community. Many of them would not survive without Tafta’s assistance. Every year Tafta spends about R95,5-million, R21-million of which has to be raised through donations. Tafta has 163 paid staff and a council of 12 volunteers, all of whom are leaders in business.
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THE ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION
The Robin Hood Foundation was founded 14 years ago by Durban businesswoman and motivational speaker Cindy Norcott. A few weeks after the birth of her second daughter, she sat up one night feeling grateful for the successes she had achieved in her life, and wondered how she could give back by helping those in need, how many poor babies could she clothe just with the babygro’s her daughter had already grown out of. She emailed all her friends and Love the Babies was soon established which led to the creation of Robin Hood trustees Pat Horrmann and Liesl Kriegisch. The charity has since grown into a spectacular success and helped hundreds of thousands of people. It is run by Norcott in her position as founder and chair with co-ordinator and marketing whizz
Kim Griffith Jones and scores of volunteers who are tireless campaigners for the poor. The organisation keeps its overheads as low as possible to ensure funds make a difference in the community. It has a single full-time employee and trustees all act for free and everything they source is from donations. In 2017 Robin Hood ran over 160 projects and one event alone reached over 25 000 recipients. They’ve hosted pop-up restaurants in various rural communities, for poor pensioners who are served meals by volunteers. Their “Mahala Markets” give the elderly in rural communities an opportunity to shop for free with donations of clothing and other items. Giving is a gift, says Griffith Jones, who is constantly in awe of the kindness and generosity of residents of KZN. Since its modest beginnings Robin Hood has touched an estimated 100 000 lives having distributed baby clothes, educational equipment, uniforms and stationery for orphaned and vulnerable children, fed grandmothers, built a house, two self-sustainable creches and refurbished a primary school for 700 learners in rural Ntshongweni, among other projects. “Giving is not conditional. We take what we are offered and we act as custodians of that. We’ve been blessed over the years with the support of big guns like ARB, CHEP, Bata and Rodel Finance, and thanks to them and many other businesses and individuals we’ve been able to help.” Impressive numbers are one thing, Griffith Jones says, but it is the engagement that is humbling and gratifying. “It re-humanises us in the digital age. Sometimes I have to take a bit of time out at an event, because I’m just left bawling. They are not sad tears, it is just overwhelming to see what we can achieve when we all connect and work together for the greater good.
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