St Laurence’s Children’s Haven enjoy a surprise they will never forget
Barely able to contain their excitement and intrigue, a few of the younger children rushed to open the big red box and were elated to find an array of different stationery items and notebooks.
The faces of children lighting up when they feel special and loved is a sight beyond compare, and for the youngsters of St Laurence’s Children’s Haven, it was impossible not to smile on Wednesday, 14 October.
St Laurence’s is a safe haven, offering a secure, safe and loving environment to abused, neglected and abandoned children. As a non-profit organisation (NPO), St Laurence’s welcomes any and all donations, but they never expected the generosity of two popular Clearwater Mall stores to fall on them.
A set of house parents were invited to bring the children to the mall to accept a few much-needed donations from the Freddy store and Starbucks. Abigail Branders, one of the house parents, said the children could not contain their excitement when she announced what they would be doing that morning.
The large group of children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, were in their personal Seventh Heaven as they started their afternoon drinking iced teas and taking photos, waiting for what came next. The Clearwater Mall corridor was filled with wide eyes and smiles as Janke Eager (Freddy Clearwater Mall owner) and Helen Ndaba (Starbucks manager) came towards them with their arms filled with the most comfortable-looking blankets and a large, red mystery box donated by the coffee shop.
Barely able to contain their excitement and intrigue, a few of the younger children rushed to open the big red box and were elated to find an array of different stationery items and notebooks. Laughter and smiles lit up the Freddy store as the grateful children thanked the generous donors for their blankets and stationery, too distracted by the gifts to notice the R5 000 voucher that had also been donated to them.
The Freddy store in Clearwater Mall took on the Jerusalema Challenge, hosting a flash mob during Women’s Month to raise awareness in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV), and donated all of the proceeds to St Laurence’s. The voucher is valid for any store in the mall, so Abigail and her husband decided to surprise the children one more time with a burger and ice cream each at McDonald’s, saving the rest of the voucher for medication and groceries.
“It was an extremely fun and memorable day, which I am confident the children will not forget,” said Abigail. “We are so grateful to both stores for what they have given the Haven.”
