Children’s Home to host food and book fair

THIS week saw the official welcoming of autumn in the southern hemisphere, and to commemorate the season, the Johannesburg Children’s Home is seeking to raise much-needed funds.

The NPO, one of the oldest of its kind in Johannesburg, is set to have an array of goods available for sale at its fair, with all proceeds going towards the running of the home.

“It’s a morning fundraiser for the home. We will have pre-loved books and clothing and products produced under our Imvelo Experience brand on sale, as well as vendors from the community hosting stalls,” the Johannesburg Children’s Home’s head of operations, Fiona Duke, told the Saturday Star this week.

“We will also have picnic packs on sale, so it will be a relaxed morning spent at the home in a lovely setting.”

Duke explained that The Imvelo Experience creates sustainable funding opportunities for the organisation, and that the Book & Food Fair is one of the fundraising strategies they had implemented over the years.

With the next edition of the fair in September, the autumn edition on April 1 will coincide with the home’s Imvelo Experience, which was officially launched at their 130th birthday celebration in December last year.

“Whether you’re a customer, a guest, a corporate or community volunteer, our re-imagined social enterprise in support of the Johannesburg Children’s Home will leave you with a lasting memorable experience,” Duke believes.

Apart from books, food and beverages, Duke added that there will be jumping castles, among other things, to entertain the youngsters.

The Johannesburg Children’s Home was officially opened in 1892 in Fordsburg, Johannesburg.

Since then, the home has provided much-needed care for vulnerable and orphaned children in Johannesburg. It has since moved to Observatory and has grown into a professional Child and Youth Care Centre with the addition of an Early Childhood Development Centre called Funda Ngo Thando. This addition to the home currently provides early childhood education for over 40 children between the ages of two and five years old.

Meanwhile, the Johannesburg Children’s Home also cares for 64 orphaned and vulnerable children ranging from the ages of three to 21, and provides them with much-needed residential, educational, developmental and therapeutic care.

“The children in the care of the Johannesburg Children’s Home have experienced severe trauma and through the court system have been placed in the home’s care,” said Duke.

She added that each child was individually assessed and appropriate measures, such as therapies and educational needs, were put in place to ensure that the child had a successful exit plan when one day leaving the home.

Duke said the Johannesburg Children’s Home relied on donations and funding from the community and government, but needed additional, sustainable funding to match the increasing financial needs of providing quality care for the children at the home.

“The home is very well managed, but funding is tight in the difficult economic climate. People can support the home by donating money or food and cleaning materials.”

She said that the Book & Food

Fair is one of the ways to raise money for the home and that their vision is to continually strive to deliver memorable experiences for their guests and customers through their diverse range of enterprise offerings.

If you are interested in hosting a stall at the Autumn Book & Food Fair, entrepreneurs and vendors are invited to contact Sandra on 011 648 1120 or at se@jch.org.za.