Social Responsibility

The Trust provides funding to organisations and establishments that have a proven track record of excellence in the care of such children, specifically Kingdom Kiddies (PBO 930027192) and Shiloh Synergy (PBO 930004375), both of which we have long-standing relationships with.

In other areas of need the Trust provides physical assistance, e.g. through the provision of "Comfort Packs" to child-victims when they report crimes to the police. A pack contains a snack, a soft drink, teddy bear, tooth paste & brush, colouring book & pencils, soap & wash cloth and underwear. This area of involvement is under the auspices and guidance of the Matla a Bana Charity Trust (036-349-NPO).

Disaster relief

Disaster relief by its very nature occurs purely on an ad hoc basis when required. An example hereof relates to the provision of essential equipment to the crèche run by Shiloh Synergy (PBO 930004375) after the previous facility was destroyed in a fire in 2009.

Poverty relief

The Trust supports the True South Soup Kitchen in Mbekweni, Paarl which has been in operation since 2008. At this soup kitchen about 100 children each get one warm meal per day, in an informal settlement that is characterised by extreme poverty and hardship.

Practically, support for the soup kitchen entails the following:

• Provision of facilities for the safe-keeping and storage of food supplies.
• Provision of food supplies, with regular replenishment as required.
• Ongoing support to the ladies from the area that the Trust has contracted to man the soup kitchen on a daily basis (preparing food and overseeing when the children take their meals).
• Provision of other items on an ad hoc basis, e.g. a small present for each child at Christmas and blankets at the start of winter.

Dating back to 2006, True South adopted the crèche facility being run by Shiloh Synergy (PBO 930004375) in the Wallacedene informal settlement near Kraaifontein, Cape Town. It is estimated that this area is home to around ten thousand pre-school children, resulting in an enormous need for facilities where these children can be cared for during the day (to allow employed parents to go to work). Poverty in this settlement is so severe that in many instances the only meal the kids get in a day is the one provided by the crèche.

Support for the crèche mainly entails the provision of equipment (television set, DVD-player, educational DVD's, books, chairs, tables, heat/cold insulation for the roof, etc).

Through the provision of funds and volunteering of time the Trust partners with Shiloh Synergy (PBO 930004375) and The Warehouse (PBO 930006345) in our efforts to fund community development efforts with sustained results.

Shiloh Synergy is an outreach centre in the Wallacedene informal settlement near Kraaifontein, Cape Town, where food, clothing, education and skills development are provided to a significant number of people to improve not only their current circumstances, but also their futures. Some of the main project categories are crèches, feeding schemes, education, back to school, sports training, animal care, children's homes, a jail mission and disaster management.

The Warehouse seeks to change the lives of the poor by restoring their dignity and building meaningful relationships with them. Communities are helped in facing some of South Africa's most painful wounds - orphaned children, gangsterism and at-risk youth, unemployment, unequal distribution of resources, poor access to education and underdeveloped skills. Some of the main programs are Care for Kids (serving AIDS orphans), Fusion (equipping youths in gang-dominated areas), Urban Gleaning (distribution of food, clothing and blankets into informal settlements) and Workspring (employment creation and entrepreneurship program aimed at the unemployed).

On an ad hoc basis the Trust will partner with Habitat for Humanity, a Section 21 Association Not-for-Gain (registration 1987/004242/08) to construct or upgrade housing for needy individuals, e.g. some of the children's homes initiatives that the Trust supports, or the office interns at True South, or similar.

The Trust leverages the True South office environment to offer the opportunity of exposure to worthy individuals who are able to make a career as office administrators, but who (due to circumstances) are unlikely to realise that potential if not given an appropriate opportunity. Typically the interns are unemployed matriculants from Cape Town's informal settlements. Selected individuals are entered into the True South environment for a period of approximately a year (or more if required and appropriate) where they get exposure to all of the facets of basic office administration, i.e. equipping them for a career once they have completed their internship.

In addition the Trust supports Abundant Life Seed (075-988-NPO, operating in association with Farming God's Way) which trains people (who have access to their own bit of land) in the skills of subsistence farming. The focus is to farm profitably with freely available resources (sun, rain, own energy, land, composting, etc.) and no reliance on pesticides and chemical fertilizers. They focus on the use of open pollinated seed so the farmer can use some of this year's crop for the next planting season. Once training has been provided, there are regular follow-ups to ensure that any problems are dealt with through further one-on-one instruction. While South African training occurs nationally, the main current focus of this initiative is the impoverished, rural areas of the Eastern Cape. The initiative has been operating in a number of African countries for some years (under the banner of Farming God's Way) and has many heartening success stories.

Dating back to 2006 True South has provided support for the Valley Primary School, situated on the outskirts of Durbanville, Cape Town and attended by the children of farm workers on the surrounding wine farms.

Apart from provision of building material for the subdivision of a classroom, support has been aimed at the school's library through the supply of books, educational DVD's, etc.

The Trust provides study bursaries for the office interns employed by True South. The bursary provides for entry fees, books, notes and exam fees for a diploma in office administration (or similar study area as individually identified by the intern). In this way the interns are awarded the opportunity to further enhance their marketability in the job market upon completion of their internship at True South.

In addition the Trust provides back-to-school bursaries for children in the Wallacedene, informal settlement near Kraaifontein, Cape Town. This initiative will take place under the auspices of Shiloh Synergy (PBO 930004375). At a cost of R1 000 per bursary, it provides for shoes, school clothes, books and other basic necessities. Shiloh continuously monitors the progress if the children on the bursary program, ensuring continued school attendance and that social issues as may arise are dealt with.

The criteria for awarding bursaries by the Trust are mainly a combination of self-drive within the individual (thus increasing the probability of academic success), coupled with a complete lack of alternative funding (i.e. targeting bursaries at individuals who would simply not have had the academic opportunity otherwise).

Typically the bursaries are awarded for a duration of one academic year. If the course runs over more than one year, the Trust considers awarding the same student with a bursary for the subsequent year if his/her academic results and general progress have been satisfactory.

The Trust seeks to raise awareness of the extent of carbon emissions that individuals and organisations are responsible for and then to equip them with ways to neutralise their carbon emissions.

The Trust provides assistance in order to offset carbon footprints. This is mainly done through the planting of indigenous trees and the establishment of earthworm farms (vermiculture).

For practical reasons some of the assistance for the planting of trees is done financially by means of donations to the Section 21 company "Food and Trees for Africa" (registration 1991/001061/08). Where ever possible however the assistance is physically through the provision of an indigenous tree (bought from a local nursery) and labour required to plant it (offering the opportunity of a day's work to one of the many unemployed persons standing on our street corners, waiting for opportunity).

In respect of earthworm farms the Trust supplies interested individuals and organisations with "starting kits". These kits comprise of a worm bin, a starting population of earthworms and an information leaflet. The starter kit is of adequate size for the organic waste of a household of four.