NEWS

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28 July 2011

St. Peter's members to build home of love for orphaned South Africans

Twenty-seven members of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Arlington County are traveling to South Africa this week on a community-building mission to support children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.

The congregation, based off North Glebe Road, has raised more than $52,000 over the past two years through car washes, a bike race, dinners and other fundraisers to help build a home for six children and a caretaker, or house mother, in Masiphumelele, on the western cape south of Cape Town. This week, the families and individuals from St. Peter’s will deliver seven handmade quilts, build a playground, paint a mural and volunteer in other ways for the orphans and the church’s partnering organization, St. Francis Outreach Trust.

Source: Washington Post

 

July 2011

Dear Trustees and Friends

Yesterday on Madiba's 93rd birthday we had 25 members of the SA Navy's Maritime Reaction Squadron at our "Home To Grow" in Masiphumelele,doing their 67 minutes of social service in honour of our beloved Nelson Mandela. They showered our children with toys and food and presented Joyce with a large TV set and a DVD player. They played games with the kids and particularly the "girl sailors" loved the little ones. The guys cleaned and weeded the garden and I think a great time was had by all. Luitenant Commander Andrew Pieterse, who was in charge of our visitors, indicated to me that they would like to have an on-going relationship with us. I suggested that, if our American visitors do not finish all the tasks we have set for them, they could help us complete the work.

Thank you and kind regards to all

Uwe

 

July 2011

Richard Skea of Worcester was the winner of a 40" flat screen TV set as well as a 5 speaker hometheatre. The draw took place on June 20, 2011 by an independent auditor. Monika du Satoy, the chairperson of the St Francis Outreach Trust, congratulated him on the wonderful prize.

The Trust relies heavily on the money generated by two raffles per annum to raise funds for the building and support of foster homes for orphaned, vulnerable or abandoned children in the southern Cape Peninsula. We would like to thank all our supporters and donors on behalf of our kids and remind them that our 2012 Art Calendar by local watercolour artist Emma Appels Riley will be available in September for only R 120.00. Contact 021 786 5487 for more information.

 

May 2011

Dear Donors and Friends,

All good wishes go to our new Chairperson Monika du Sautoy as well as her Vice-Chair Tim Skea for the future.

We have just completed our Easter "Table at the Longbeach Mall".This year we are raffling a 40" flat screen LCD TV set together with a Hometheatre with 5 speakers, Amplifier and Sub for R 20.00 per ticket.The draw will take place on the 20th June,by an independent Auditor. Proceeds will go to the second "Homes To Grow" foster home. We also sold our popular greeting cards and face cloths embroidered with the St Francis children as well as lots of second -hand books that were donated by our ever- generous congregation and trustees.Our thanks goes to the parishioners of St Francis AND St Margaret of Fish Hoek,who so kindly gave of their time to support our worthy cause.

Our first foster home at 2554 Kanana Rd is progressing well. Joyce is a wonderful housemother and her charges are visibly prospering.One of our children has found foster care at her aunts',which is wonderful news,because living with family is best.

We have been given a small vegetable tunnel by The Swartland Development Foundation and Pick 'n Pay Supermarkets.We planted spinach (Swiss kale) and cabbages and Joyce is looking forward to her first crop in about six weeks.

The built-in counter in the kitchen/lounge of our foster home also serves as a dining and play table. It is unfortunately higher, ie 98 cm, than the 75 cm of a normal one, and we need seven chairs so that the kids of varying sizes can sit at it. Adjustable chairs with a gas mechanism cost approximately R 720.00 each.Can anybody help us with an alternative suggestion or sponsor even part of a chair?

A copy of our 2011 un-audited financials is enclosed for your information.

A special thank you to all our donors without whom all this would not have been possible.

Yours Sincerely,

Trustees-St Francis Outreach Trust

 

December 2010

Dear Patron,Partners,Trustees and Friends,

It's almost Christmas and looking forward to the birth of the Christ Child we, as Trustees of St Francis Outreach Trust, became very much aware of our role of Godparents to our charges at the baptism of our little Molly a few Sundays ago. We now provide a lovely,caring home for four children and I am grateful for the time, love and expertise that Monica,Michelle,Diana,Judy and Wayne have made available to make this possible.

Joyce,our housemother, was certainly a wonderful find. She radiates JOY and has a great touch with the children.

We thank our mentors, Jane Payne and Pippa Shaper of Home from Home, and we were most exited to meet the children and carers of some of the other 19 homes they are looking after at their annual Christmas party in Claremont.

I would like to extend our great appreciation for the kindness,encouragement and help we have received from all of you and pledge that we will continue to strive for the provision and running of caring foster homes that are so needed in our country.

We look forward to the visit of members of St Peter's Church , Arlington,Virginia, in August 2011. Anna Fernau will be leading some 35 parishioners and their kids to see what their support has accomplished in their partnership with us .They will be lending a hand to improve the garden at Kanana Rd, help with other tasks and if we have started building our second home already, pitch in there as well.

Next year promises to be as exiting as 2010 has been.

I wish all of you a blessed and peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Uwe Hass,Chairman

 

25 October 2010

The ST FRANCIS OUTREACH TRUST would like to thank their suppliers of building material and services at no charge or greatly reduced prices which allowed us to complete our first "Homes To Grow" foster home in Masiphumelele

Thank you and Bless you!

This three bedroomed house will be home to six orphaned,vulnerable or abandoned children under the care of Joyce Matomana,our housemother and a part-time assistant. Molly,a 19 month old girl is the first of the children that has been given to us. A steering committee consisting of members from the Masiphumelele community and some of our trustees will ensure that the housemother is supported financially and emotionally.We have been assisted and advised by " Home from Home " who are running some 18 foster homes in the Western Cape already.

It is estimated that there are over 2 million orphans in our country at this point and we hope that we will be able to build more of these foster homes in the Southern Cape Peninsula.

Our funds have been raised by generous donors from St Francis Church in SimonsTown,St Peter's Church in Arlington Viginia ,St Paul's Church in Ohio ,as well as from Switzerland, the UK and Germany.The trustees have been selling calendars,greeting cards,hand-crafted items as well as raffle tickets to raise money as well. See our webpage www.stfrancistrust.org.za

Should you like to help us run this home or help in the purchase of a plot or building the next "Home To Grow" phone Uwe at 021 7865487

The St Francis Outreach Trust is registered under section 18A of the Income Tax Act (Act58 of 1962),which means that donations are tax deductable.

 

22 September 2010

WE HAVE DONE IT !!!

The first " Homes To Grow " is standing and Joyce our first housemother has moved in at 2554 Kanana Rd,Masiphumelele. You must all congratulate yourselves because YOUR financial, material, physical and spiritual effort has made this accomplishment possible ! You have created a lovely,warm and surprisingly spacious environment ,that will give six children a wonderful home.We have bought a new fridge,stove and washing machine and some of the cupboards in the bedrooms and the kitchen are built-in. All the beds and furniture including a TV set and many other household items and curtains were donated by a very gracious St Francis congregation.

We are now waiting,after approval by 'Home from Home' of the building ,to have children allocated to us by the Department of Welfare. One small vulnerable baby of 2 from the neighbourhood has been offered to us(the parents are alcoholics)but Social Welfare has to process this case first. We do need a cot,ideally a portable one,if this child is given to us. I must thank Wayne Honeywill ,our builder,who has worked a miracle in stetching our funds in order to complete this building.He used local unemployed people of the township ,training them as he went along and only bringing in specialists such as plumbers and electricians from outside. Many of his suppliers have given him special prices and we thank them most heartily, particularly "BreatheCoat Paints" ,who have donated almost all the paint needed of their special eco- friendly paint that allows moisture to escape but not to penetrate the walls.. Now we still need a solar heating system that has been promised for October by a local supplier in conjunction with the Austrian Government. Also needed are experienced gardeners,shrubs,compost and tools for a small vegetable garden, after the concrete slab at the back is laid for the kids to ride strider bikes on.

We are looking already for a new plot in Masiphumelele,because we know that the need of the children in the area is great. For this reason we will again be offering a calendar this year. This time it's rather a special edition by well-known Kalkbay artist Emma Appels- Riley.The subject is once more our beautiful Southern Cape Peninsula with 12 scenic watercolours ,recipes and flora and fauna in A3 format. The price is R 110.00 each and is sold at well-known stores in our area as well as by our trustees. You can also purchase them on our website (click here) as from October .If you would like your calendars to be sent overseas and you place an order for more than one at R110.00($16.00,GBP10.00,Euro 12.00),we will post them free of charge to Europe or the Americas.

The end of October is the cut-off date for Christmas post to reach these destinations. Greeting cards of each calendar page will also be on sale.

Tickets (R10.00) for the raffle of a Toshiba Laptop valued R 5000.00 will be sold by the trustees and friends as well as at the stall during the second week in November at the Long Beach Mall.The draw will take place on December 16,well in time to be a present for Christmas. Please support the trustees in our fund-raising effort.!

Uwe Hass ,Chairperson

 

28 May 2010

We are laying the foundation of our first Homes To Grow

On the 15th June 2010 at 3pm the retired Archbishop of Cape Town,His Grace Njongonkulu Ndungane,who is our revered Patron,will be blessing the foundation of the first 'Homes To Grow' foster Home in Masiphumelele,a township in the southern Cape Peninsula.Thereafter we will meet for refreshments at the local library and give thanks to the Lord and the many donors in South Africa,USA ,Switzerland and Germany,volunteers and wellwishers that have made our rapid progress possible.We have enough funds to put the roof on the structure and hope ,with Gods help,to raise additional capital for the fixtures,fittings,funiture,solar panels and gardening that is needed.

 

5 April 2010

An Easter fundraising event at Longbeach Mall

The response to the Easter table at the mall was very encouraging. This was our second fundraising event held at this venue and again we are humbled by the support of the community. We appreciate not only their generous giving of funds, but also the steady encouragement for the project. There is much concern for the vulnerable - for children who do not have a secured future. Where will the future lead if we do not take steps to look after the needs of today? Again we extend our thanks to Alana Lochner of Growthpoint Management for her support.

 

Month of February 2010

Dear Friends

Thank you for your support during 2009. We would like to tell you about what has been achieved since the launch of the Trust in May 2009 by our patron, former Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, and of the plans for 2010.

One of the aims of the Trust is to establish a foster home for abandoned children, affected by AIDS, in Masiphumelele. Considerable progress has been made towards this:

We have been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of so many people, both locally and overseas.

The Trustees have committed themselves to raising at least R150 000 this year. Our plans include: a table at Longbeach before Easter and before Christmas, a film preview, a lucky draw, a raffle and another calendar. We hope that we will start building our Home in the second half of 2010.

Thank you all for your support in so many ways. Please continue to pray for us.
May God bless you in all that you do this year.

The Trustees of the St Francis Outreach Trust

 

Month of November 2009

The Table at the Long Beach Mall prooved to be a great success ,not only financially but also as a means of promoting awareness of our aims to our immediate community.

It also afforded to members and supporters of the Trust to experience fellowship on the road to our first goal-the building and supporting a foster home for orphaned and vulnerable children in Masiphumelele.

We are greatful to Growthpoint,the mangers of The Long Beach Mall for allowing us to have this week in order to raise funds for our cause at no charge to us .Thanks to Allana Lochner,the Marketing Manager!We are also greatful to our Vice-Chairperson Monika ,who has excelled herself in her organising ability.!Thanks to Liz Hardman who started it all.

We raised roughly R15000 selling calenders, cards, homemade blankets, cookies, toys, bric a brac, flowers and raffle tickets for a 32" LCD TV the draw being the 16 December 2009.Well done guys!!!We hope that the remaining 500 beautiful calenders of our part of the peninsula will sell before they reach the end of their 'Sell By Date' early next year. Anybody who has a good idea phone me. 021 7865487.

All our Trustees and members have been dedicating their time,expenses and donations to our aims- Thank You. We are hopng to have enough funds to start building by the end of 2010 ,God willing. Remember the Kids we are doing it for.

We thank Anna Fernau of St Peter's,Arlington,USA for the donation of $2500 they have earmarked for us and the support from Europe .

We are exited that the following organisations have pledged to support us in selling our calenders:

St Margaret Church Fish Hoek,MOODS Fish Hoek,SJ Kelly Accountants Fish Hoek,Moon Light Meander Muizenberg,SJ Kruger Attorneys Rondebosch,and African Hope Craft Sunny Acres.

Partners in Caring are Holiday Inn Hotels Nationwide ,Lumber City Retreat and First National Bank Long Beach Mall.

Thank you for YOUR support!

In fellowship,

Uwe Hass
Chairperson

 

Month of September 2009

Dear Friends,

September was a very exciting month for us at SFOT. We received what we thought was our SARS registration so that we can enjoy tax relief not only ourselves but our donors as well. However a letter from them asked us to motivate our application for this latter privilege. This was immediately done by Stan Kelly from Fish Hoek, who very kindly has been assisting us in registering the Trust, and we are awaiting developments.

Most of the news however has been positive. Our offer to purchase the plot in Masi for the foster home was accepted by the seller and we are awaiting transfer.

Anna Fernau of St Peter's of Arlington, Virginia who visited us in August with her family, wrote to us saying that their church officially is partnering St Francis Outreach Trust in the Masi Foster Home Project. A complete program of fund- raising events are scheduled, inter alia - a private showing of the Warner Bros film "Invictus", directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francoise Pienaar, a SA Wine Tasting, a world cup braai and an SA pancake day all in aid of our projects. We are also wanting to host a private showing of "Invictus" at the Long Beach Mall in December if Ster Kinekor is agreeable.

We have purchased a 32" LCD flat screen TV set as a pre-Christmas raffle prize at R 10.00 per ticket. The draw will take place on December 16 2009.There are only 1000 tickets sold so please support us.!

The management of the Long Beach Mall has given us permission to put up a table in the Mall to sell various items such as our calendar for 2010, depicting the beautiful St Francis stained -glass window of our church as well as stunning panorama shots of our wonderful Deep South for only R45.00-as well as greeting cards, cut-flowers and other items. See you there!

God's richest blessings,

Uwe Hass
Chairperson

 

15 September 2009

St Francis Outreach Trust celebrate the purchase of land in Masiphumelele

On Saturday 5 September 2009 the land on which the first Home to Grow will be built was symbolically handed over to the St Francis Outreach Trust by its current owner. The plot is situated in Kanana Road in the township of Masiphumelele. Drinks and snacks were enjoyed by members of the St Francis committee, the present owner of the land and the tenants who currently rent structures on the property. For many people it was the first time that they had viewed the property, and everyone felt positive that the project was moving in the right direction. Prayers were said by some of the people in attendance.

The piece of land is being purchased thanks to a loan from the St Francis Church parish. The foster home will be built once finance for the construction of the building is secured.

For more pictures of the event click here

 

12 March 2009

The St. Francis Outreach Trust launch at the British Hotel

The launch of the St. Francis Outreach Trust took place at an evening function, held at the British Hotel in Simon's Town on the 12th May, 2009. The event was well supported by the local community as well as NGO's from the healthcare and housing sectors.

Our patron, the retired Archbishop Njongo Ndungane started the proceedings with a blessing. Uwe Hass, the chairperson extended a warm welcome to all the guests and outlined the aims and objectives. The trust was formed with a view to assisting the disadvantaged communities of Masiphumelele and possibly Ocean View. The main focus is to respond to the plight of the orphans and to assist the community in training programmes in the education of HIV/AIDS healthcare.

The statistics of the HIV/Aids pandemic are alarming. Two thirds of the world's Aids sufferers live in Southern Africa. By 2010 there will be an estimated 2 million orphans in our country. We all need to play a part in helping to avert a human catastrophe.

The driving force behind the initiative is Monika du Sautoy, whose goal is to establish a foster home called "Ikhaya Lethemba" (House of Hope). With the help of the community a suitable plot of land was found and an offer of purchase accepted. Architect plan's for a home, housing 6 orphans and a house mother will be submitted for approval.

Dr Judith Whittaker, in conjunction with the Desmond Tutu Research Foundation has arranged a series of classes to train counselors in the various aspects of healthcare. The courses will be held on a regular basis.

Other objectives include promoting community based projects, giving assistance to emerging micro-enterprises, training in business management; promoting self-help and empowerment.

An appeal is made to the public for support in raising funds. The St. Francis Outreach Trust is registered, IT 1631/2009 - as a non-profit organization and donations will qualify as being tax deductible.

For more pictures from the event, click here.

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