ALBERTON – The festive season is the season for giving, while spending time with family, enjoying ample entertainment and receiving gifts galore. The sad thing is that there are so many children who will not be receiving gifts or love this festive season. In the spirit of generosity and the fact that children are such a huge focus of the Spur Group, the Spur Foundation will coordinate a national toy collection drive to put a smile on some underprivileged children’s faces.
Between December 1 and January 16, 2015 collection boxes for new and pre-loved toys will be available at Little Eagle Spur (The Lemon Tree Centre), Rocky Peak Spur (Brackenhurst Square) and Panarottis Alberton (Lemon Tree Centre), as well as all Spur-, John Dory’s- and Panarottis restaurants countrywide. These boxes will be allocated to beneficiaries of the Spur Foundation. The beneficiary in Gauteng is the ASHA Trust, a South African NGO that establishes and supports formal and home-based early childhood centres in economically challenged communities by providing daily pre-school care, meals and educational stimulation for less fortunate children aged two to six.
The Spur Foundation runs this campaign on an annual basis, due to their commitment to the welfare of children in South Africa. The Toy Drive, supported by CourierIT, Longstreet Media and Nampak, collected 77 boxes filled with toys in the 2013 period.
According to a 2014 National Adoption Coalition Report, there are 18.5 million children in South Africa. Orphans are estimated at about 5.2 million children. Over 13 000 live in residential care facilities and an estimated 10 000 live on the streets of South Africa. And that excludes the children who are with their families, but in such dire circumstances where they cannot afford basic necessities, never mind toys,” says Ronel van Dijk, Chairperson of the Spur Foundation.
The Spur Foundation was founded on Mandela Day in 2012, with an initial R670 000 donation from the Spur Group. Spur’s value of generosity and focus on family will be carried through to the Foundation’s various initiatives throughout the year, which are committed to Nourish, Nurture, Now!