Christmas came a bit earlier for people living on the street thanks to a donation of clothes, slippers and towels donated by Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, to the Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s (CCID) Hope for the Homeless fundraising campaign.
The campaign, a Show You Care initiative of the CCID’s Social Development department, aims to raise more than R100 000 through public donations for six NGO partners that work closely with the organisation to improve the lives and conditions of those less fortunate, offer them the chance at a better life and help them move off the street.
Beneficiaries of the campaign include The Hope Exchange, Khulisa Social Solutions, Straatwerk, The Homestead Projects for Street Children, Ons Plek and Youth Solutions Africa (YSA).
As part of the campaign, the CCID has 14 donation bins located in the foyers of buildings based in the City Bowl. It also collects donations from hotels.
The CCID raised R121 514 during the 2021/22 financial year which was distributed equally among the six beneficiaries.
Tasso Evangelinos, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CCID, says they would like to surpass this tally considering the country’s rising unemployment rates and post-pandemic poverty levels which have worsened people’s conditions.
Evangelinos says: “Working to alleviate homelessness requires a combined effort. We were heartened by the way our NGO partners, community groups, corporates and ordinary citizens supported each other this time last year at the height of the pandemic and it illustrated what can be done when we work together.”
Lee-Anne Burrows, Human Resources Manager for Mount Nelson, says, for the past six years, the hotel has been working with the CCID to give back and support local communities.
She says they recently handed over about 4 000 pairs of slippers.
“We had 4 000 slippers in our laundry room that were not able to be placed back into guestrooms, as they were lightly used, and, therefore, donated them to our long-standing partnership with the CCID. They went to various shelters that are supported by the CCID, namely District 6 Shelter, Hope Exchange and Safe Space.”
She says they also donated towels and clothing.
“The Mount Nelson is committed to improving the lives of local communities. Through the implementation of various environmental, social and cultural initiatives, the Mount Nelson contributes to the safeguarding of the environment and the upliftment of disadvantaged communities in surrounding areas.”
CCID Social Development social and field workers distributed the items to Straatwerk (300 towels), Youth Solutions Africa (200 towels and 200 slippers), Khulisa Social Solutions’ Streetscapes (250 towels) and The Hope Exchange (four bags of towels and one bag of shirts).
- For details, email aziza@capetownccid.org
