Solidarity Helping Hand

Rain puts damper on Toy Run target

Juanita — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:23:17 +0000

21 February 2012

By Alan Straton

On 15 February 2012, at a function held at the Midnight Motorcycle Club, R156 000.00 was handed over to charities as part of the Port Elizabeth leg of the annual Toy Run, a non-profit charity event.

Although the organizer’s aim was to generate R200 000 for charities in its twentieth year of the event, the torrential rain on the day of the Toy Run had an adverse impact on potential fund raising.

Annual fund raising through the Toy Run focuses on supporting children through pre-identified, well established charities.

The 2011 Toy Run beneficiaries are:

People Opposing Poverty (POPS) Foundation – R50 000
Missionvale Care Centre – R40 000
Solidarity Helping Hand – R40 000
Morewag Primary School sold the most Toy Run lucky draw tickets and made R8000 for their school
Ad hoc charities / needy children, as selected by the committee throughout 2012, will receive a total of R18 000

The wish list emanating from all three charities was to purchase food for the children they support.

The Toy Run hosted 350 children at its annual children’s parties: 300 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and a further 50 at the Aurora Centre for the Handicapped.

Hundreds of toys donated by participating bikers were handed out to underprivileged children across the Metro with the help of the Zwartkops Round Table 195.

The Toy Run committee has extended thanks to all its participating sponsors and volunteers for their support, without which they would not have been able to reach out to hundreds of children in the Metro through the annual Toy Run.

The 21st Anniversary of the Port Elizabeth Toy Run aims to raise R210 000. The event takes place Sunday 25 November 2012 and organisers look forward to the support of Port Elizabeth businesses, the public and the local biking community in helping to help the children.

Media statement: Helping Hand celebrates Mother Language Day with stories of Afrikaans heroes at Laerskool Louis Leipoldt

Juanita — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:11:30 +0000

Media statement

Solidarity Helping Hand

21 February 2012

Helping Hand celebrates Mother Language Day with stories of Afrikaans heroes at Laerskool Louis Leipoldt

Solidarity Helping Hand believes in the promotion and protection of mother tongues. In celebration of International Mother Language Day today, the organisation read stories about Afrikaans heroes to the pupils of Laerskool Louis Leipoldt.

The event saw Dr Dirk Hermann, Chairman of Helping Hand’s Board, reading the story of Japie Greyling, a brave Afrikaans boy, to the pupils. While he read the story, six of the school’s pupils did a moving re-enactment of it.

Andries Hendrik Potgieter, upcoming singer and ambassador of Helping Hand’s Career Guidance Services, thereafter treated the pupils to a selection of familiar Afrikaans songs like “Bobbejaar klim die berg” and “Ta’ Hessie se wit perd” and the pupils joined in heartily.

Dr Hermann encouraged parents and teachers to read and tell more Afrikaans stories to ensure that Afrikaans is kept alive.

“Not just stories, their stories. Every child has a story and we must see to it that we create a culture where we teach the children their stories,” says Dr Hermann. “History forms a child and shows him where he fits in. Our plea is that schools must retell history accurately.”

The event was held in support of Vriende van Afrikaans’ campaign on mother tongue education.

Media contact:

Juanita du Preez

Solidarity Helping Hand

Tel: 012 644 4390

Cell: 074 500 3915

E-mail: juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Media release: Prospective Aurora entrepreneurs awarded certificates after entrepreneur training

Juanita — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:03:50 +0000

Media release

Solidarity Helping Hand

20 February 2012

Prospective Aurora entrepreneurs awarded certificates after entrepreneur training

Former staff of Aurora Empowerment Systems and other individuals living in the Springs area received certificates today after successfully completing an entrepreneurship course.

The course, which started in October last year, was a further step in Solidarity Helping Hand’s campaign to help this community to take charge of their own future. The project was driven by Helping Hand’s jobs portal WerkNet. During the course, eight prospective entrepreneurs were helped to compile a comprehensive business plan and determine their goals.

The entrepreneur training has already seen promising results. ‘It changed my whole life,’ said Thuli Shelembe, who has a natural and herbal medicine business. ‘Previously, I did not know I had to register my business, have business cards printed and design a logo. Now I also know there are certain things that can make my work easier.’

For Margaret Rayner, who makes theme cakes for children’s parties, the cherry on the top was not the certificate, but the fact that she is no longer the same person as six months ago. ‘I learnt an enormous amount at the course, but most important are the self-confidence and pride in myself that I gained, and the fact that I could find the Lord again.’

Gideon du Plessis, deputy executive head of Solidarity, was involved with the mining community since the start of the Pamodzi/Aurora crisis. He congratulated the entrepreneurs on their new skills but also warned that they should not become like Michael Hulley and Khulubuse Zuma, enriching themselves at the expense of others. Hulley and Zuma are some of the people responsible for the Aurora crisis, whom Solidarity has taken to court to force them to pay up.

Helping Hand became involved right at the start with immediate emergency relief measures. However, it was soon clear that the crisis was not a short-term problem. The entrepreneurship course is part of Helping Hand’s policy of upliftment through training.

‘Through this focus area, we can make a tangible difference in people’s lives,’ said Dr Danie Brink, executive head of Solidarity Helping Hand. ‘You now have the task of turning our input into good outputs. We are standing next to the track, cheering you on.’

Media liaison officer:

Juanita du Preez

Solidarity Helping Hand

Tel. 012 644 4390

Cell: 074 500 3915

E-mail: juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Media Statement: Solidarity Helping Hand Bothaville announces first recipients of its community bursary

Juanita — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:56:27 +0000

Media Statement

Solidarity Helping Hand

16 February 2012

Solidarity Helping Hand Bothaville announces first recipients of its community bursary

Solidarity Helping Hand Bothaville announced the first recipients of the branch’s community bursary fund at a recently held dinner function.

As a result of this bursary, two students from the region will be able to continue their studies this year. The students will be studying pharmacy and teaching respectively.

This year, Helping Hand will focus in particular on the expansion of its bursary platform in order to offer an opportunity to more prospective students to qualify themselves and to make a contribution to the economy and to their own families. In 2011, eleven fully-fledged community bursaries, which are exclusively dedicated to support needy students from the region or the branch’s area, were established.

“Solidarity Helping Hand pursues a policy of empowerment and upliftment through training, for the organisation believes it offers the best vehicle to root out poverty. The comprehensive service value chain offers a continuous mentoring process, which addresses spiritual, cultural and social poverty, assisting the toddler, child, student and young person to ultimately prepare for the world of work” Dr Danie Brink, Solidarity Helping Hand’s new executive director said.

The community was very pleased that Dr Brink had chosen the Bothaville function as his first appearance as guest speaker in his capacity as Helping Hand’s new executive director. The occasion was well attended.

Dinah Theron, head of Helping Hand’s Afrikaans Bursary Institute, also addressed the audience, focusing on the expansion of the bursary network, as the Bothaville Branch will again strongly focus on it this year.

The branch wishes to thank the sponsors and guests for their participation in the event.

To make a contribution towards the future of a young person, call the branch chairman, Felie Nel, on 083 255 6608.

Caption: Front, from left to right, are Marna Minnaar (branch secretary), Felie Nel (branch chairman) and Dinah Theron (head: Afrikaans Bursary Institute). Back, from left to right, are Frikkie Minnaar (branch treasurer), Arnold Steyn, Wynand Wessels (deputy chairman), and Dr Danie Brink (chief executive: Solidarity Helping Hand).

Media liaison officer:

Juanita du Preez

Solidarity Helping Hand

Tel: 012 644 4390

Cell: 074 500 3915

E-mail: juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Media statement: New Helping Hand branch in Western Cape promotes empowerment of the elderly

Juanita — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:44:27 +0000

Media statement

Solidarity Helping Hand

4 February 2012

New Helping Hand branch in Western Cape promotes empowerment of the elderly

In an effort to respond to the growing need for social aid among elderly people, Solidarity Helping Hand Western Cape has established an elder-care branch in Goodwood that will focus on empowering the elderly and identifying their needs. The aim of the branch is to empower elderly people in the community in a way that will bring about a sustainable and positive change in their living conditions. In keeping with Helping Hand’s broad approach, this support will focus on cultural, social and spiritual upliftment.

The Goodwood elder-care branch has already started off its activities and its next project is to plant trees at the Hernus Kriel Elder-care Centre in Parow today. The trees were donated by supporters of the centre to beautify the grounds and to offer shade for the residents.

The branch will also be involved in various other ad hoc projects that will enrich the lives of the centre’s residents. One of the planned projects is to start a vegetable garden.

Helping Hand is a service organisation that develops ideas on fighting social, spiritual and cultural poverty. To succeed in this aim, service delivery is developed and provided in line with the organisation’s value chain of children, young people, jobseekers, employees and retired people.

The long-term aim of the Goodwood elder-care branch is to expand the empowerment of senior citizens to other elder-care centres in the Western Cape.

Media contact:

Juanita du Preez

Solidarity Helping Hand

Tel: 012 644 4390

Cell: 074 500 3915

E-mail: juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Invitation: Solidarity Helping Hand presents Note vir Nood Festival with Bobby van Jaarsveld

Juanita — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:31:11 +0000

Media invitation

Solidarity Helping Hand

3 February 2012

Solidarity Helping Hand presents Note vir Nood Festival with Bobby van Jaarsveld

The Gauteng North Region of Solidarity Helping Hand will present the Note-vir-Nood Festival on 25 February 2012 at the Heartfelt Arena in Thaba Tshwane.

Bobby van Jaarsveld, Ronel Erasmus and Onbeskaamd are some of the big names that will be at the Jol. Other artists include Liza Bronner, Quentin Prinsloo, Blue House, Andries-Hendrik Potgieter, Esti van Rooyen and Gustav van Aardt. Any other musicians who would like to become involved can contact the organisers.

The Note-vir-Nood Festival will offer entertainment for the whole family, food stands and prize draws. Any other sponsors who would like to become involved can contact the organisers.

The objective of the Note-vir-Nood Festival is to collect funds for community upliftment projects and bursaries for needy students. Helping Hand is an active organisation that prepares young people for the world of work. It is committed to creating a large Afrikaans bursary pool and develops ideas about combating social, spiritual and cultural poverty.

Its broad objective is upliftment-through-training. The struggle against poverty is a struggle for good education.

Tickets for the Festival cost R80 for adults and R40 for school children. Tickets can be booked until 13 February at iTicket at www.itickets.co.za or 0861 000 291.

Date: Saturday 25 February

Time: 11:00 till late

Venue: Heartfelt Arena

Address: Cor. Eeufees and Voortrekker Roads, Thaba Tshwane, Pretoria

RSVP: Mariana Kriel at 084 952 5837 or mariana@helpendehand.co.za

Invitation to the media: Prospective Aurora entrepreneurs receive awards after entrepreneurial training

Juanita — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:47:23 +0000

Invitation to the media

Solidarity Helping Hand

15 February 2011

Prospective Aurora entrepreneurs receive awards after entrepreneurial training

Former employees of Aurora Empowerment Systems and several other individuals who live in the Springs area will receive awards on 20 February after successfully completing a course in entrepreneurship.

The course has been a subsequent step in Solidarity Helping Hand’s campaign to support this community in taking their future in their own hands. The project has been powered by the job-search portal WerkNet. During the course, the nine prospective entrepreneurs were helped to write a complete business plan and to determine their objectives.

WerkNet started the upliftment project in June 2011 by helping people who had been affected by the Aurora crisis to compile their CVs. During this occasion, the seed of entrepreneurship was planted and interested persons were able to enrol for the course immediately. In the end, ten people were selected to start with the training.

“In the last three years, these people realised that they could not rely on anybody else to look after them,” said Dr Danie Brink, Executive Director of Solidarity Helping Hand. “Thanks to this training, they grasped the opportunity for a second chance and took it further.”

The entrepreneurial training has already produced promising results. Thuli Shelembe has extended her natural and herbal medicine business and has consequently drawn interest from universities. Margaret Rayner has taken her cake-making business to a new level and is marketing it proudly after her family had to depend on food parcels and the kind-heartedness of other people to stay alive for a long time.

The media are invited to the event:

Date: Monday, 20 February

Time: 10:00 to 13:00

Venue: Stable Inn Conference & Wedding Centre

Address: 11 Vlei Road, Strubenvale, Springs

RSVP: Juanita du Preez – 074 500 3915 or juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Media invitation: Solidarity Helping Hand celebrates Mother-tongue Day with epic tales at Louis Leipoldt Primary School

Juanita — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:50:02 +0000

Media invitation

Solidarity Helping Hand

15 February 2012

Solidarity Helping Hand celebrates Mother-tongue Day with epic tales at Louis Leipoldt Primary School

The value of mother-tongue education and the importance of one’s mother tongue as medium of instruction should not be underestimated.

Celebrating International Mother-tongue Day on 21 February, Solidarity Helping Hand will remind Louis Leipoldt Primary School pupils of the importance of the continued existence of their mother tongues.

The grades 0 to 3 group will be entertained on tales about heroic Afrikaans children at the event. Members of the school’s reading club and Dr Dirk Hermann, Helping Hand chair and deputy chief executive of Solidarity, will read the stories to the children. “Live” characters will help to present the stories visually.

“Education in one’s mother tongue is precious, and through this initiative we will help foster a love of reading in our children,” according to Dr Danie Brink, chief executive of Solidarity Helping Hand.

The event is presented in support of the campaign by the Friends of Afrikaans to promote mother-tongue education.

Members of the media are cordially invited to attend the event:

Venue: Louis Leipoldt Primary School

Address: corner Langebrink Road and Pretorius Avenue, Lyttleton, Centurion

Time: 10:00

Date: Tuesday, 21 February

RSVP: Juanita du Preez at 074 500 3915 or juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Media Statement: Helping Hand’s Afrikaans Bursary Institute allocates bursary loans totalling R7 million in 2012

Juanita — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:23:02 +0000

Media Statement

Solidarity Helping Hand

13 February 2012

Helping Hand’s Afrikaans Bursary Institute allocates bursary loans totalling R7 million in 2012

Solidarity Helping Hand’s Afrikaans Bursary Institute this year awarded bursary loans to the tune of R7 million to 524 needy students.

During the past year, the bursary platform experienced unparalleled growth, and the available funds increased by R2 million. In 2011, bursary awards worth R5 million were made.

The Solidarity Movement’s chief executive, Flip Buys, recently said that a minority group had to have the majority of knowledge for it to survive in a majority environment. According to Dr Danie Brink, Solidarity Helping Hand’s chief executive, the Afrikaans Bursary Institute is a good instrument to realise this belief.

“At Helping Hand we follow a policy of empowerment and upliftment through training, because we believe it is the best way to root out poverty. The comprehensive service value chain offers a continuous mentoring process, which addresses spiritual, cultural and social poverty, assisting the toddler, child, student and young person to ultimately prepare for the world of work,” he says.

This year, Helping Hand is focussing in particular on the expansion of the bursary platform to give more prospective students the opportunity to qualify themselves, thereby enabling them to make a contribution to the economy and to their own families.

Since 2010 the bursary funds, managed and administered by the institute, grew from 19 to 56.
In 2011, 23 new bursary funds were created.
Eleven fully fledged community bursaries, which are exclusively dedicated to needy students in the region or a branch’s area, were established.

This remarkable growth was realised thanks to people such as Dr Steve Booysen, who marketed his bursary fund during a glamorous occasion, at which R555 000 was raised. Thanks to this fund, 37 students could continue their studies this year.

During the past holiday, twelve year-old Anjé Breed raised R1 000 on her own towards the Dawid and Ira Breed bursary fund, her grandparents’ fund.

The names of Jeanette Luttig and Daniel Rodgers will live on in the R4,5 million, which they have jointly bequeathed, specifically to advance the cause of training in the Western and Northern Cape.

“The bursary concept is really making a huge difference in the lives of so many children,” says Dinah Theron, head of the Afrikaans Bursary Institute. “Individuals, who depended on others to make a living, can now, after completing their studies, function independently. Because of limited funding, we unfortunately cannot help all those who applied for bursaries, and we had to turn down thousands.”

To become part of a better future, contact Dinah Theron on 012 644 4428, or at dinah@helpendehand.co.za.

Media liaison officer:

Juanita du Preez

Solidarity Helping Hand

Tel: 012 644 4390

Cell: 074 500 3915

E-mail: juanita@helpendehand.co.za

Notice to the media: Solidarity Helping Hand provides professional career guidance in Tzaneen

Juanita — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:16:55 +0000

Notice to the media

Solidarity Helping Hand

7 February 2012

Solidarity Helping Hand provides professional career guidance in Tzaneen

Tertiary education is expensive. Therefore it makes sense to invest in professional career counselling.

A registered psychometrist, in conjunction with Solidarity Helping Hand, will be visiting Tzaneen on 13 and 14 February 2012. The purpose of the Helping Hand Career Guidance Programme is to provide Afrikaans-speaking young people throughout the country an affordable professional service regarding subject and career choices.

Contact Annette Taljaard at 012 644 4390 for more information about the packages available.

Media Liaison Officer

Juanita du Preez

Solidarity Helping Hand

Tel: 012 644 4390

Mobile: 074 500 3915

E-mail: juanita@helpendehand.co.za