Thursday 01/07/2010

Thursday 1st July - Alan is in the chair

We visited "1000 Hills Community Helpers" this was a project that was not on our orignal list to visit but it was suggested to us by a local Rotary contact and this was a real case of local knowledge being worth a great deal.The project began as a feeding programme in 1989, a year later it was realised that a community clinic was neede to cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS and the project has just developed and become a real flagship organisation - the place was buzzing, a real inspiration.
So what do they do - on average they feed 1,000 people a day, they run a free clinic 5 days a week (averages over1,300 per week) , they have a baby room, creche & pre school,community gardens project growing food to supplement the feeding programme, a skills development programme (Adult Basic Education Training,computer skills, an internet centre,a craft centre training people in sewing & beadwork and selling on to raise funds for the project,a library, a home based care scheme, a 4 x 4 ambulance which is on call 24/7 - do you get the impression that is a busy place?!! There was a holiday club for children yesterday and over 150 kids were taking part in activities.

The centre is run by Dawn Leppan with a fantastic team of staff and volunteers and we were just SO impressed by the phenomonal amount of hard work, care and attention that was evident in evry department we visited.

I find it hard to put into words exactly how good this organisation was - it had to be seen to be believed and I am hoping we can form a relationship with Dawn & her team.

We then headed off to Ridge City an organistion that has been going for 5 years approx.
They have a number of projects - Ridge Enterprise that offers loans for community members to set up their own businesses, a cluster foster care facility for 4 children, Ridge Cafe which offers food & drinks, background music and a TV, stocks convenience items and operates a soup kitchen once a week that feeds an average of 200, Ridge Youth which works with the disadvantaged (Arts Academy - dance, drama & music lessons) and a football programme.
A really good organisation that is always looking for other opportunities to develop and continue to serve this marginalised community and they are submitting some funding proposals for our consideration.