Street Smart hands over cheque to Plett organisation

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Yolande Stander

Plettenberg Bay street children will now be able to join their peers in the classroom thanks to diners at local restaurants.

On Thursday StreetSmart South Africa handed over R25 000 to Masizame - a Plettenberg Bay based organisation which supports vulnerable children through various phases including early childhood development.

The charity was identified as a StreetSmart beneficiary last year when the local chapter was launched.

StreetSmart SA is a non-profit organisation dedicated to family reunification and upliftment of street children and raises funds by getting the support of local restaurants.
Participating restaurants raise funds through encouraging diners to add R5 to their bill, but this is completely voluntary and diners can decline or add more if they wish. The restaurants place a small card on their tables that informs patrons about the initiative.

The organisation has raised about R9-million since it was founded 10 years ago and with 90 restaurants across the country involved managed to raise more than R1-million last year alone.

On Thursday StreetSmart SA chairman and founding member Nils Heckscher handed over a cheuque for R25 000 to Masizame and revealed that Knsyna would soon launch its own chapter.
"Through these handovers we can now show people exactly where their money is going to. We also have several checks and balances in place, so Masizame has to report back to us and show us what they did with the funds," Hecksher said.

Masizame, which means "let us try" in isiXhosa, chairman Antoinette van der Mescht said the money would be used to enroll the children at their drop-in centre in local schools and provide the necessary support to those learners including employing a social auxiliary intern as well as an educational psychologist.

The organisation supports vulnerable children through three phases including early childhood development. They also have a child and youth centre for children who are unable to live with their parents for various reasons as well as a drop-in centre where children working the street receive food, a shower, life-skills training, mentorship and guidance.

(Garden Route Media)