Growing Champions, a non-profit organisation, was the recipient of stationery supplies through a drive held by Cresta Shopping Centre over the December 2020 period.
The intent of this drive was to provide the children with adequate supplies in preparation for the 2021 school year. The stationery drive was a huge success, collecting more than 700 items of stationery and school supplies valued over R11 000 for the kids at Growing Champions.
Samantha Toweel-Moore, the organisation’s founder, said she could not put into words how exciting this all was for them. “It is so wonderful to see the investment Cresta Shopping Centre has in these young people, who are brave enough to lead change in our community.”
She added that these children have been in the darkest of spaces and know exactly what poverty, addiction, abuse, crime and violence translate to. The children know how all these aspects are brought into life and how they fester. “For them to be able to write a new narrative, they need to be given the tools to do so and they are determined to do it.”
For her, these children evoke the strength of a warrior, a person who every day decides to take the hard road and often times are forced to construct their own.
“Cresta Shopping Centre delighted us when they invited us into their community and we were overwhelmed by the absolute generosity of our community,” said Toweel-Moore.
She reflected on the energy that enveloped these young people when they received their stationery packs, as they walked around all these different stationery elements packing their bags for school with such enthusiasm.
For many it was the first time they had anything new, for others it was the first time they could cover their books with something beautiful, “One of the matric boys was excited that, for the first time, his books won’t just be covered with a plastic and that he finally had a cover that spoke true to him.”
She expressed it was washing of love over them all and it made them feel like they belong and that people see and believe in their fight and will support them through it. “I don’t think there is anything more than a person wants than to feel and give love and the community of Cresta has given us the opportunity to put love into the world through this generous charity drive.”
Cresta Shopping Centre and general manager, Virginia Bester would like to thank their shoppers and the broader community for supporting their initiatives to uplift and strengthen each other. For them, the spirit of Ubuntu is truly the driving force behind Cresta’s continuous endeavours to equip, uplift and invest in its community, while providing customers with exceptional service, now and into the future.
