The local partners of a national non-profit organisation (NPO) are currently assisting with a stationery drive that is intended to provide school supplies to vulnerable and street children in the Cape Winelands area.
The StreetSmart Stellenbosch stationery drive, which is taking place between 13 August and 30 September, is being run in conjunction with Dinner for 20 Bistro, Jordan Restaurant, Kunjani Wines, Majeka Kitchen and wine.co.za – the NPO’s restaurant partners. This was according to Zaid Adams, the chairman of StreetSmart.
The funds that StreetSmart, a South African non-profit organisation (NPO), generated for the support of vulnerable and street children in 2018 and 2019 reached between R1.5 million and R1.8 million each year, according to Zaid Adams, the chairman of StreetSmart. During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, the total funds that the organisation raised was just short of R600 000, he said. In order to generate alternative support for their beneficiaries, StreetSmart is running a stationery drive between 13 August and 30 September. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
The initiative forms part of StreetSmart’s strategy to find alternative ways to support their beneficiaries under the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, according to Adams.
“Our stationery drive has come on the back of a need to find a new way to raise money. [O]ur fundraising base has been restaurants,” said Adams. “[The Covid-19 lockdown] has decimated restaurants, meaning that the base of our fundraising has been absolutely eroded.”
StreetSmart’s long-standing method of raising money involves their restaurant partners adding R5 to the bills of patrons, to be donated to the NPO, said Adams. The charge is added to the bill automatically, but can be voided at the request of a client, according to Pia Watermeyer, owner of Kunjani Wines.
“The lockdown has impacted the income for StreetSmart. [Kunjani Wines] used to be very busy seven days a week,” said Watermeyer. “We’re now busy only on weekends, with local people. Along with that, there’s obviously less customers, less traffic.”
Watermeyer estimated that the funds the restaurant currently generates for StreetSmart are about half of what they provided before the lockdown.
The restaurants are now serving as drop-off points for the stationery drive, according to Adams. While the drive has not seen significant returns at this point, it remains one part of StreetSmart’s short- to medium-term strategy of maintaining traction and having a positive benefit in the lives of children in need, he said.
Pia Watermeyer, owner of Kunjani Wines, talks about how the loss of business at the restaurant during the Covid-19 lockdown has impacted the funds that they generate for StreetSmart, a South African non-profit organisation. Kunjani Wines is one of StreetSmart’s long-standing restaurant partners. AUDIO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
Outreach under lockdown
The challenge of generating funds as an NPO under lockdown is not unique to StreetSmart, according to Peter Marx, the executive director of Home from Home.
Home from Home is an organisation that provides “supported, family-style foster care to orphaned, abused, neglected and vulnerable children”, according to their website. The organisation, which has foster homes in Cloetesville and Kayamandi, is one of StreetSmart Stellenbosch’s beneficiaries, said Marx.
“[The loss of funding] has been quite symptomatic of this Covid time. We’ve had a number of other funders either withdraw or reduce their funding, based purely on the Covid pressure,” said Marx. “By the end of 2020, we were beginning to notice that the economic pressure of [the lockdown] was hitting various organisations and individuals.”
Peter Marx, the executive director of Home from Home, talks about the decline in funding over the course of the Covid-19 lockdown period. Home from Home is a beneficiary of StreetSmart, a South African non-profit organisation. AUDIO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
The reduction in funding has come at the same time as additional needs and challenges have emerged in foster homes, according to Marx. One such challenge is the need for computers and internet within the homes, in order to support online schooling, he added.
The situation has pushed Home from Home to be more adaptable in its methods of attaining support, noted Marx. “We’ve had to be very flexible in trying to get support in specific areas where our need has increased,” he said.