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"doing good beautifully"
Winston Churchill said "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." The practice of benevolent giving is charity and charity is love - the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love. It is not just nice to possess charity; it is essential because charity creates change and charity never fails.
We all have our personal goals and objectives. We all want to drive a fancy car, stay in a mansion on a golf estate, go on long holidays to exciting destinations, have a strong performing and well-diversified investment portfolio and so much more…
We are perhaps the fortunate ones who can work towards these goals. However, there are so many people that do not have that luxury and they live off the blessings of others to simply survive.
The Gray Swan Charitable Trust was established as an extension of The Genesis Idea (a charitable vehicle of the Theron family over the past 5 years) as the primary vehicle through which Gray Swan Financial Services (Pty) Ltd channels funds to positively impact the lives of the less fortunate.
The Trust will in due course become a vehicle through which other small and medium sized enterprises can channel similarly earmarked funds to charitable activities, socio-economic involvement in the community and enterprise development initiatives. Previously The Genesis Idea was such a vehicle, which was used by other corporates to channel funds to earmarked initiatives.
The Trust mainly focuses on making a difference in the lives of underprivileged people. Some of the organizations and projects that we have supported over the past 5 years and will continue to support are:
1. Care for abandoned, abused, neglected, orphaned, homeless children +
The Trust provides funding to organisations and establishments that have a proven track record of excellence in the care of such children, for example the Abraham Kriel Maria Kloppers Emdeni Orphanage in Johannesburg makes a meaningful difference in the lives of 800 children and we have a long standing relationship of over 10 years.
2. The provision of facilities for needy nursery owners and pre-school children +
We support Prochorus Community Development outside of Stellenbosch. Over the last 10 years, Prochorus has been actively serving the people of Kayamandi, enabling volunteers and donors from affluent communities and churches to invest in the lives of the babies, children, women and men - transforming a generation, one life at a time.
There are around 30 crèches in Kayamandi. At least 22 of these are held in houses or shacks. Due to financial constraints, most of the crèches cannot afford to provide in the basic needs of their children, let alone proper childhood development activities.
Support for the nurseries mainly entails the construction or upgrade of buildings, provision of equipment (toys, mattresses, decorations, facecloths, etc), hosting annual year-end parties and volunteering.
We have successfully been involved in this project for the past 12 months as it is a new project, which we have earmarked for funds.
3. The provision of scholarships and bursaries for study +
The Trust provides study bursaries for children that do not have a family to support them or where the family has a lack of funds. The bursary provides for entry fees, books, notes and examination fees.
The criteria for awarding bursaries by the Trust are mainly a combination of self-drive within the individual (thus increasing the probability of academic success), coupled with a complete lack of alternative funding (i.e. targeting bursaries at individuals who would simply not have had the academic opportunity otherwise).
We have been supporting Maleratho Mashede (ex Head Girl of the Abraham Kriel Orphanage) over the past 5 years and are proud to have covered all her tuition plus further financial assistance. As a result of her tuition is she today employed by one of the most prestigious game farm boutiques in Africa called Singhita.
4. Spreading the gospel in prisons and African countries +
Through the provision of funds, Marco Swartz spreads Christian DVDs and DVD players to prisoners around South Africa and in African countries such as Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Ghana. He spreads on average 3,000 DVDs per annum and makes a meaningful difference in the lives of thousands of prisoners who also corresponds with him.
We have been involved in this ministry for over 7 years and will continue to support this powerful ministry in Africa.
If you would like to support any of the projects or make a donation, please contact Tania Theron (see contact page for details).
Click here for the Charitable Trust Newsletters
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