School Term 2 News

The Stats

The total material delivered by the kids from January to June 2022 was just under 37 tonnes, of which 12 was plastic (33%)

The second school term consisted of 7 full trading Mondays in May and June, most of them hot and very busy. In other words, happily back to our old selves!

The Stars

Fortunately there have been enough volunteers on hand to assist most of the kids who wanted to participate. CSALT and Jeffreys Bay Primary were our champions, and we were also stoked to welcome volunteers from YWAM, a group of US students who were visiting and many “drop-in” volunteers. Friends Lucy and Franceska kindly set their homework aside most Mondays to help with setting up, portioning porridge, sugar etc. and staying as long as their moms allowed 😉

Jeffreys Bay SuperSpar very kindly allowed us to set up a collection box for gently worn shoes at their entrance. We sincerely appreciate them giving us this space and thank those who contributed to keep some little feet warm this Winter.

The Givers

On each visit, each recycler received a healthy meal, fresh fruit and 2 sachets of long life milk. For this we must thank our very generous sponsors in alphabetical order Chip ‘n Dip, First Choice, Food Lover’s Market, Infood and Nina’s Real Food. It means so much to the children to receive this reward, especially now that we are once again able to have our “dining area” set up. The kids enjoy their treats, socialize, show off their shopping and generally relax after the ordeal of queuing and shopping.

A long-standing anonymous supporter sent 2 more boxes crammed full of gorgeous dolls and clothing, toys and knitting all the way from the USA. You know who you are & that you are very special to all of us!

The Stander family recommended JBay Recycling Project to Stewardship International, a philanthropic organization based in the UK. Stewardship have committed to donating £500 per quarter for a period of 2 years towards our swop shop stock, with an option for us to apply for capital expenses should any be required. Needless to say, this is simply fantastic and will go far at our exchange rate of around 20.

We were encouraged by Kouga Municipality’s Environmental Specialist, Ms Nomvelo Silewa, to apply for their Grant-In-Aid funding last year. In April we received the amazing news that this year, R50,000 has been awarded to JBRP. It really does mean a lot to receive support from our local authorities and we hope to continue with this partnership.

Ikhala Trust, a grant-making organization from neighbouring Gqeberha, visited and brought 2 crates of donated canned goods from DF Malherbe school, which were extremely welcome considering current food costs.

The Shop

Spinning tops were all the rage this season and we literally couldn’t keep up with the demand – we emptied the wholesalers in the city and every spaza shop that stocks them within 300km. Small battery-operated clocks were a trial item and eagerly snapped up. We have had to replenish our chess sets several times, which bodes well for our academia!

Thanks to the creativity and generosity of our wonderful local knitters, a number of children return home with a cuddly teddy, stylish hat or vibrant warm blanket every week.

The Challenges

Our area has been experiencing a prolonged drought, with ever stricter restrictions and mitigating measures now extending to watershedding between 10 and 4 daily. First Choice installed 2 large water tanks next to our building years ago, so we are very fortunate to have access to 10,000 litres of rainwater. We have prepared by bringing buckets and a filtration system, but with our premises being quite low-lying, we have not had empty taps yet.

Unfortunately a burglary into our clothing container meant the loss of 4 bicycles and 12 pairs of football boots. It’s always saddening to realize that people can bring themselves to steal from disadvantaged children. With help from Traxdoor, Henry and Oom Pirow, some additional security measures are already in place.