Social Responsibility Project

As part of iSAT's social awareness campaign we will be supporting a charity for a financial year. We extend an invitation to you to join us as we support this year's charity and various others in future years in order to help bring upliftment to society in South Africa.

We welcome your suggestions for any other charities to be supported in the future.

The Children's Feeding Trust will be the beneficiary of our campaign for 2013.

The Children's Feeding Trust was established in 1958 and was then known as The School Feeding Fund. From it’s inception, the fund had an enthusiastic and devoted band of volunteers and thanks to their fundraising efforts, they were feeding 10 000 children within the first year.

The fund's family continued to grow and by 1995, 37 years after it's founding, they were feeding 47 000 children at 90 schools every day. Subsequently, government has taken over the responsibility of The School Feeding Fund and hence the formation of The Children’s Feeding Trust.

The purpose of the Children’s Feeding Trust is to support a variety of charities who are conducting feeding schemes. One of the charities who support the trust is Jerusalem Ministries. The Jerusalem Ministries is a local mission based in Walmer, Port Elizabeth.

This year, Pat, Peter and Maureen from the Trust, invited a few members of iSAT's staff to view the different Children's Care Centres they lend their support to.

One of the centres visited, litha Care (which means “sun is shining”), is situated in a township called Walmer Dunes, in Nelson Mandela Metro, South Africa. The Walmer Dunes township is found between the Port Elizabeth airport and Walmer railway line.

It is home to many poor people. As with many areas in Africa, many are living close to the bread line and dependent on government social grants.

The Ilitha Care project is a centre which has been developed to help relieve the effects of poverty and provide aid within this community. The centre to date provides support for over 70 children, mostly aged 3 to 5 years old. Some even as young as 8 months old. Many of these children in the centre are from homes where nutrition and education is inadequate. Ilitha Care is dependent on donations from local business and churches, as most of the children's parents cannot afford to financially support the centre.

Daily needs:

• Food (baby food)
• Clothes (0 - 4 yrs)
• Nappies
• Toys & educational items
• Crayons & paper
• Books
• Cleaning materials (hand & dish soap, disinfectants)

The difference these charities make in the lives of the children and their families is impressive. We were greeted by friendly employees and volunteers who eagerly explained to us the function that their charity performs and the manner in which they were being run.

The smiles on the children's faces were an indication of the hope that these charities give and is a great reward for us involved in supporting the Children's Feeding Trust.

The Children's Feeding Trust's fundraising efforts include the following:

• A second hand book store that operates for 6 days a week (www.booksetc.org.za)
• The manufacture and sale of greeting cards by volunteers.
• The selling of home made donated jams and marmalade.
• A letter of appeal, once a year, to thousands of Companies and individuals.
• Street collection tins once a year all over Port Elizabeth.
• Collection tins at schools.
• Bulk book sales every 4 to 6 months.
• Adverts in local newspapers to create awareness.
• All donations are appreciated and acknowledged individually.

Address: PO Box 5132, Walmer, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 6065.
Telephone: (041) 581 4371
E-Mail: cftrust@isat.co.za