Day of Caring grants wish list
The Community Chest's annual Day of Caring helps organisations within the community.
THE Ubuntu Community Chest will host its annual Day of Caring on Wednesday, 16 March.
The organisation is the first ever of the South African Community Chests to host this event, with the first event held in Durban in 1997.
The Day of Caring is a one day voluntary work experience project. The Chest asks the 85 welfare and development societies that it supports to provide the Chest with a “wish list” of projects they have neither the time nor the materials to complete. A number of projects are then carefully selected. Some of the projects for this year’s Day of Caring includes painting exterior buildings or varnishing doors at various organisations, painting a jungle gym at a care centre for the disabled and a roof at a crèche.
“We then approach companies in and around Durban to assist us with donations and sponsorship of all the materials that are needed to complete the projects. Dulux Specialist Paint Centre has sponsored the paint required for this year’s event. Companies in Durban are asked to provide us with voluntary manpower to complete work at the different societies. More than 200 volunteers depart for the different societies to do the day’s work and at the end of the day, the volunteers return for a post event function and presentation,” said Fadeela Deedat from Community Chest.
The Day of Caring not only provides welfare and development societies within the community with volunteer labour to complete meaningful tasks, it also shows the volunteers and donors the importance of their donation of time and money. It provides a opportunity for employees within a company, whether junior or senior, to get together on an informal basis and team build while doing something constructive for the community.
