Hotel Hope receives donation
MELVILLE - A rotary fundraising effort pays off for Hotel Hope Ministries.
A meeting of The Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn had an international flavour with the visit of two ex-members of the club from the Netherlands.
Marja van Leeuwen and Bert Ettekoven didn’t come empty-handed either, as Van Leeuwen brought a 6 000 Euro cheque with her.
This was money raised by her club, the Rotary Club of Delft, the oldest Rotary club in that city, for a joint project with Rotary New Dawn and the Hotel Hope Ministries.
The donation consists of 4 000 Euros raised by Delft members through a Christmas market, where they sold gluhwein and toys, among other activities.
Another 2 000 Euros was raised through a grant from their Rotary district funds.
“This amount, which is already over R90 000 with the present exchange rate, is being matched with a R50 000 donation from Rotary New Dawn,” said Joan Donet, president of New Dawn.
“We’re also hoping to access money from our own district funds, and everything will go towards extensions at the Hotel Hope Ministries home for orphans and abandoned children in Melville,” said Donet.
Van Leeuwen and Ettekoven, who lived in Johannesburg until 2010, took time out from an extended holiday in South Africa, revisiting old haunts, to present their cheque at the New Dawn breakfast meeting at the School for Tourism and Hospitality at the Bunting Road Campus of the University of Johannesburg.
The couple, who welcomed their second grandchild to their family recently, have remained avid Rotarians. Ettekoven is the current president of the Rotary Club of Delft Vermeer, the youngest of four clubs in the city, and Van Leeuwen the immediate past president of Rotary Delft.
They have pledged an ongoing relationship with Rotary New Dawn and Hotel Hope.
“We’re very grateful for the help and support,” said Oliver Quambusch, director of Hotel Hope and a well-known figure in Melville.
“This will go a long way to help us create extra capacity to look after even more little children. Thank you to Rotary, thank you to all the members of New Dawn and Delft, and thank you to every person in that city who donated money to this wonderful cause,” he said.
Details: Linda Vink, 082 782 4628
