Thanks to the efforts of Northcliff High School’s Outreach Group, two local children’s homes received their share of 500 packets of noodles and soup they collected.
The teacher who started the outreach group, Shanitha Budree-Maharaj, said she thought of the idea about five years ago as she is passionate about charity and giving back to the community. “It was an ideal way to do something good,” she said.
She explained that the group’s first initiative all those years ago was collecting empty water bottles, which they would fill with water using the school’s borehole, for drought-stricken parts of the country. “This was donated to a company that transported the water to communities that were hardest hit by the drought. Since then, we have kept our fundraising to be more community-based and we are constantly getting pleas for help.”
The outreach has also tried to help where they can, for example hosting blanket drives. However, the school as a whole has various projects they undertake annually Budree-Maharaj said. “In term one, we concentrate on our food drive.”
This year during first term, they aimed to collect 500 packets of noodles and soup to be distributed to those in need. In previous years, the school donated to Johannesburg Social Services and the items were distributed to crèches around the city. This year, the outreach will be donating to homes of their choosing – they chose Abraham Kriel Kinderhuis and Lighthouse Baby Shelter.
In the second term, learners aimed to provide young girls with sanitary pads. “This campaign took off with lots of interest generated as many learners, male and female, understood the plight of those unable to access this basic necessity.”
Over two months, in conjunction with Northside College Northcliff, they collected over 500 packets of sanitary pads which were handed to Gift of the Givers to distribute to various children’s homes or where they identified a need.
The school is currently busy with their Jars of Hope campaign which will coincide with Nelson Mandela Day. They aim to collect enough samp, beans, lentils and stock to fill the jars as these are necessary items to cook a meal for a family, which will also be given to Gift of the Givers.
All the school’s projects are term-based and Budree-Maharaj believes that their learners need to be made aware of what is happening in the world and try to do their bit for it as well. With the outreach’s motto being ‘help us to help those in need’ she also believes projects like these create awareness in learners and forces them out from their comfort zones. “Those learners involved in these projects over the years have learnt incredible lessons that they will carry with them forever.”
She shared the learners were extremely proud of themselves as they know they are making a difference, even if it is ensuring one child does not go to bed hungry, ‘or that a young girl will not have to miss school because she now has sanitary pads’.
Bundree-Marahaj hopes the learners are inspired and that through them, the community is inspired to help the school with their various fundraising efforts.
