The children at the Lesedi Crèche in the Lanseria informal settlement burst into celebratory song when staff from the Pam Golding Properties (PGP) Fourways/Dainfern office delivered two bakkie loads of food and clothing last week.
PGP Fourways/Dainfern area manager, Jason Shaw, explains that the food and clothing was collected by the staff members of the Fourways/Dainfern office as part of the PGP outreach programme. He says the response of the children to the donation was overwhelming and all of the PGP staff members who were present at the handover were deeply touched by the children.
“The Lesedi Crèche does incredible work in the community with meagre resources,” adds Shaw. “The crèche was started five years ago by Maria Mahrangu, who opened her home to children who were left to fend for themselves while their parents went to work. We hope that the donation will assist the crèche over the coming weeks and that it will bring a little festive season cheer to the children at this special time of year.”
Shaw explains that Maria asks parents to pay a nominal fee to take care of their children, but many are not able to afford it. Maria spends her entire day planning classes and taking care of 100 children whom she has in her care and does her best to provide them with two meals a day. There are a further 20 children on the waiting list but due to space constraints Maria is unable to accept them.
According to Shaw two of PGP’s agents, Bridgette Bull and Gwen Heyden, had heard of the excellent work being done by Lesedi Crèche and elected to support it in their own outreach programme. When the other staff members got to hear about the crèche and the meaningful work that it does they just had to be part of it. The project soon became bigger and bigger with everyone getting involved. Before long they were collecting food and clothes for the children for the festive season.
“I was astonished at just how generously our staff members gave to this project,” adds Shaw. “I feel privileged to work with such a caring and dedicated group of people. Next year we hope to take this project even further.”
For information please contact Pam Golding Properties Fourways/Dainfern office on telephone 011 467 4119 or email Jason.shaw@pamgolding.co.za.
