Buckets of love – school holiday hamper campaign

Buckets of love – school holiday hamper campaign

As part of our family reunification efforts, most of our children go home for school holidays. But food is not always plentiful back home.  And this is even more serious for those kids on life-saving medication like Antiretrovirals, that need to be taken with meals.

That’s why we try to send the kids home with a Bucket of Love … a handy plastic kitchen bucket filled with non-perishable food items to keep tummies full all through the holidays. Each hamper contains:

  • Baked beans
  • Tinned fish & vegetable curry
  • 5kg rice
  • 2kg maize meal
  • 2kg sugar
  • 2kg samp
  • Morvite instant porridge/Jungle oats
  • Tea, coffee and powdered milk
  • 2 litre bottle of cooking oil
  • Peanut butter and jam

This year our target is to fill 40 bukets. Please will you help us, so no child has to go hungry during the holidays. Every bucket is filled with love, hope, and nutrition – because no child should have to choose between food and family.

Click here to donate towards Buckets of Love.

 

Lenovo Friendship Day

Lenovo Friendship Day

We were excited to be chosen as beneficiaries of Lenovo’s “Global Month of Service” (GMOS).  During the month, employees of the company around the world are encouraged to participate in activities to uplift their communities, uniting as a global force for social impact.

lenovo friendship dayOn 4 October,  our children and youth enjoyed a special day of friendship and celebrations with the team from Lenovo, DUT and The Little is Much Foundation. Our children were given the opportunity to sing and dance for the visitors, and were treated to wonderful gifts, delicious meals and various entertainment.

We were also most fortunate to receive many of the items on our wish list. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Lenovo, The Little is Much Foundation and DUT for treating our kids to this special, happy day.

Message from the Director – Mandy Goble

Message from the Director – Mandy Goble

And in a heartbeat, our 120 year celebratory gala event is now recorded in the history book of this special organisation. The evening certainly lived up to the hype. Board members, past residents, special guests, donors and new friends arrived in all their fabulousness. The entertainment was superb, the personal stories shared by people who spent years of their childhood at the home moving, and the message given by our special guest Dr Sooliman inspiring.

In sharing and reflecting on various experiences he’s had over the years, Dr Sooliman’s deep belief that our common humanity unites us stood out. For me, it drove home the commitment DCYCC holds as we step forward into our 121st year of service to children and families. We choose to participate in the humanity we share with others, by extending our arms and hearts to helping hurting children.

Thank you to all our donors and supporters for sustaining us through the years. May you never stop caring about the children who depend on us for hope, healing and happiness.

 

Instilling pride in kids’ traditions and culture

Instilling pride in kids’ traditions and culture

On Heritage Day, 24 September we celebrated the cultural wealth of our nation … and also the many different cultures represented within our organisation!

Heritage Day is really special at the Durban Child & Youth Care Centre. Our children enjoyed every moment of the day to the full – dressing up in traditional outfits … tasting a variety of cultural dishes … and participating in a colourful and diverse programme of song and dance. We love this opportunity to instill pride in the kids’ own culture and traditions, as well as understanding and respect for others’

120th Anniversary Fundraising Gala Dinner – a truly special and memorable event.

120th Anniversary Fundraising Gala Dinner – a truly special and memorable event.

What an epic night of celebrations we enjoyed to mark the 120th anniversary of the Durban Child & Youth Care Centre! Our Fundraising Gala Dinner, sponsored by Standard Bank, was a truly special and memorable event.

Thank you to our vibrant and funny MC, Darren Maule, for filling the room with so much Happiness … guest speaker, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, for sharing Hope for a kinder and more caring world … and the beautiful, Healing voices of the Durban Girls High School Choir. All in celebration of this milestone achievement – inspiring happiness, hope and healing in vulnerable children since 1905.

 

Happiness, hope and healing

Special thanks and appreciation to all our donors & supporters who came out to celebrate with us! Thank you to our sponsors – Checkers, Food Lover’s Market, Marianna Fashion Studios, Luleka Homestead and Al Firenze Restuarant.

Thank you, Greyville Convention Centre, for the excellent service, What’s the Function for the amazing setup and table decor, Bright Star Studios for the photography and Clay Productions for the sound and audio visuals. You helped make our Gala Dinner a night to remember.

 

Gala Dinner

A tribute to our Organisation by a Child & Youth Care Worker

A tribute to our Organisation by a Child & Youth Care Worker

“In Circles and Systems, We Grew”
By Thabiso Kunene

In the heart of care, where small hands grow,
You held the space where courage flows.
Belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity.
The Circle of Courage you lived it with tenacity.

To the childcare team, with hearts so wide,
You stood where laughter and learning collide.
In every game, in every tear,
You built foundations strong and clear.
Belonging bloomed in every hug,
Mastery nurtured in every tug of shoelaces tied, and puzzles done.
You made sure every child felt like someone.

To the manager, whose vision steered,
Through challenges faced and doubts we cleared.
You held the helm with gentle grace,
Creating safety in this sacred place.
Maslow’s needs, from base to peak,
Were honoured every single week.
From food and warmth to love and light,
You made each day feel safe and right.

To the social workers, soul-deep and wise,
You saw the storms behind young eyes.
In ecosystems Bronfenbrenner taught,
You touched the systems, changed the thought.
Microsystems rich with care,
Mesosystems shaped with flair
Your hands reached wide, your hearts reached deep,
You planted hope for those who weep.

And to the director, holding space,
For growth, for structure, and for grace
You saw the forest and the tree,
And led with quiet dignity.
Each policy, each plan, each chart
Was anchored in the human heart.
You stitched the threads that hold us tight,
In morning calm and restless night.

Now as I journey, onward bound,
To new frontiers, new fertile ground
I carry with me all you gave:
The ways you taught me to be brave.
The courage, care, and dreams you spun,
Will guide me now to what’s begun.

So here’s my thanks, not in goodbye,
But in a promise, soul to sky:
That what we’ve built will still extend,
In every child, in every friend.