A group of Grade 9 boys of St John’s College in Houghton has taken Park Care Centre under their wing.
The centre takes care of 320 frail residents and also has a satellite home-based care project in Vrededorp that provides care to about 250 people.
The boys have visited Park Care in Parktown West on various occasions and have always been appreciated by the centre’s residents and staff.
A visit On Father’s Day was a huge success and residents played pool, darts and table tennis with the young gentlemen. The female residents appreciated the cupcakes provided by the boys and the occasional hug from the ‘handsome’ young men.
Not to make them feel left out, the boys offered to provide all the men in the centre’s care with a little Father’s Day present. After some debate, it was decided to make hand warmers to keep those cold hands warm in winter. A thousand squares had to be cut out to make the 250 gifts and it was no small task.
Each St John’s boy has to complete at least 18 hours of community service during the year. Most boys, as with most people, prefer to get involved in organisations that support animals, and children. Although this group also support other organisations such as Rainbow Nation Animals that provides dog food and care to pets in rural areas, they realised that these frail people really needed their help.
The boys were shattered to hear that nearly 100 of the Park Care residents did not have any help or visits from family. The toiletries for these residents need to be provided by the centre on a monthly basis. The boys have helped with these but the need is really much bigger than they can provide.
The boys would like to challenge their sister schools to adopt the women of Park Care while they take care of the wise, yet sometimes grumpy men.
Details: St John’s College 010 492 0300; Park Care Centre is on 36 Escombe Avenue, Parktown West.
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