Help refurbish HOLAH baby home

MOTIVATED by their passion to continue providing a safe haven for abandoned and orphaned babies, HOLAH (House of love and hope) is appealing to the Glenwood community to help them refurbish their cottages.

Leanne Lorrance, co-founder and charity director of Likhon iThemba that runs HOLA, said there is still much to be done and they also need help to complete a small playground around the cottage for children with special needs.

“People can donate outdoor paint for the cottages, studio, and our farmhand Ernest room. They can also volunteer to continue painting these areas and the boundary wall. We also need paving stones and cement for a 1m x 80m wheelchair pathway and awning materials,” said Lorrance.

She said this organisation was established in 2011 by Leanne and Kim Brown, who started volunteering at the baby home and that’s where the passion started.

ALSO READ:Tafta appeals for food donations following unrest

“We realised that this is what we wanted to do long term, so we started our organisation. It’s been a long journey and it’s been amazing, we had over 100 children in our care, most of those have been adopted, reunified with family and we have children living overseas now. It’s been an amazing journey,” said Lorrance.

When asked about the challenges they face in their organisation, Lorrance said it was funding.

“About five years ago, we realised that we have to become more sufficient and self-sustainable, so we started our charity shop and it brings in about 70% of our funding that we need each month. It’s been a journey and we have learned a lot. The community has been amazing donating stuff that we can sell to our charity shop and bring much-needed funding to run our organisation,” she said.

“It’s a little different because of Covid-19 but there are plans put in place and we would love to see you,” she said.

She added that Mandela Day may have passed but this year they had decided to focus on Mandela month amid Covid-19 and social distancing concerns.

“The riots in KZN made it harder to have the help we usually would have had at HOLAH on Madiba’s birthday and although we are extremely grateful for all that we managed to achieve there is still much to be done,” added Lorrance.

She added that people can assist in various ways. They can volunteer at the shop, drop off donations, contact or visit the baby home. For more information, email kim@likhonithemba.co.za.

To make a donation, the following banking details can be used: Account name: Likhon iThemba, bank: FNB, account number: 62396663918, branch code: 220426. (FNB swift code for international payments FIRNZAJJ).