Warm hearted business owners, their staff and school children in Fourways, Johannesburg, have joined forces to offer a helping hand to the Jes Foord Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports sexual assault survivors.
Miles Donaldson of SA Home Loans Fourways (centre) and Jes Foord Foundation staff and volunteers celebrate a bumper collection for the non-profit's handbag campaign in aid of rape survivors.
Co-ordinated by SA Home Loans, Fourways, the volunteers recently collected and stocked more than 500 handbags filled with toiletries, a scrubbing brush, sanitary towel, clean new underwear, a personal gift and other items carefully chosen to help survivors better cope with the aftermath of the attack.
Trish Buchanan, Project Manager for the Foundation says the Fourways collection turned out to be “by far the biggest” of its various Women's Month collection campaigns, started in August and culminating in September. “We're truly grateful to businesses like SA Home Loans, their partners and the dozens of dedicated volunteers who contributed to making this handbag campaign such a resounding success.
“One of primary aims is to help women who've been raped to see themselves as survivors rather than victims. These 'dignity packs' are an important early step in that process, so the hundreds we received from the Fourways collection drive will make a tremendous impact,” says Buchanan.
Miles Donaldson Regional Manager, Sales for SA Home Loans, Fourways said he'd been overwhelmed at the generosity of the local business community and individuals.
Partners included Fourways High School, South African Breweries, Lencar Real Estate, RealNet (Linden), City Varsity, Central Developments and Dr Tollie Oosthuizen.
“It's easy to feel powerless when confronted with a scourge of the magnitude of rape. The Jes Foord Foundation is tackling it head-on and making a real difference. We at SA Home Loans feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to contribute to those efforts,” says Donaldson.
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