UCT GOLDEN KEY COLLECTS EASTER EGGS FOR LOCAL CHILDREN

UCT GK Service decided to hold an Easter egg drive to collect eggs for the children of Maitland Cottage Home, Leliebloem Child and Youth Care Centre, Tenterden Place of Safety and James House.

(Over 700 Easter Eggs were donated)

We advertised the drive using social media, email and posters placed around campus. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of UCT students and staff members, as over 700 Easter eggs were donated!
On Thursday 24 March, UCT GK Committee members visited Maitland Cottage Home. Maitland Cottage Home is a hospital for children who have suffered orthopaedic injuries. The children, mostly bed ridden, were delighted by our visit and the special appearance of the Easter bunny. The committee handed out Easter eggs, chatted to the children and played games with them.

(Pictured above are UCT GK Committee members, Sarah Forshaw, Shehani Perera, Joanna Taylor, Katherine Tredinnick and UCT GK Service Subcommittee member, Lindsay Cook and the Easter bunny at Maitland Cottage Home.)

 
Next, we visited Leliebloem Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC), a home for children orphaned by HIV/ AIDS and a place of safety for children who have been abused or come from homes where unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse are prevalent. Sadly, the Easter bunny could not join us this time, but the children were extremely excited to receive a handful of Easter eggs.

(The adorable children of Leliebloem CYCC were incredibly excited to receive a handful of marshmallow eggs.)

 
We also dropped off chocolate eggs at James House, who distributed the eggs to the children in their ISIBINDI and BEST projects. The ISIBINDI project provides a community- based model of care for infants and vulnerable youth, it serves a large number of children and their caregivers in the community of Hout Bay. The BEST (Building Emotional Stable Teens) project aims to give a vision and direction to teenagers who are at risk in the community due to challenging home circumstances.
Our final stop was Tenterden Place of Safety, a safe home for children who have been abused or neglected. We dropped off boxes of marshmallow eggs for them to use in their own Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday.
We are so grateful to everyone who donated Easter eggs and to all those involved in this initiative. It was so rewarding to see the chocolate covered smiles of all these deserving children!
Written by Katherine Tredinnick.