Magazine 2019

142 PREPARATORY We believe it is important to teach our young learners the value of showing kindness, giving and caring for others in our community. We began the year by collecting well loved school shoes and stationery for Dunoon Primary, where the chil- dren were able to make good use of these essential items for the school year ahead. We continued to support Dunoon Primary through the collec- tion of breakfast bars as quick snacks for the children to have throughout the day or for a much needed boost in the early afternoons. We also requested that each learner make a sandwich and bring it to school on Thursdays as part of our Bread Buddy drive for the school as these sandwiches provide the learners with a wholesome snack at lunch time. We rounded off the quarter by col- lecting thousands of Marshmallow Eggs which were distributed to Eric Miles Cheshire Home, theWolwerivier Community, Suurbraak Primary School, Prince George Primary School, Lav- ender Hill and Hillwood Primary in Lavender Hill. The Eric Miles Cheshire Home houses approximately 45 profoundly physi- cally disabled people who rely mainly on donations from the community.The Primary schools all support learners of which many come from impoverished homes. During the third and fourth quarter the Preparatory supported the Wolw- erivier community. Wolwerivier is an informal settlement off the N7. There are no schools or public transport in close proximity and as a result, many children drop out of school. Merciful Blessings works very closely with the Community Leader of Wolw- erivier and on a daily basis they feed an average of 150 children. The children are given breakfast in the morning be- fore they leave for school and in the af- ternoon, they are either given a cooked meal or sandwiches. For Nelson Mandela Day, we thanked our parents and learners for the boun- tiful donations of books and ingredi- ents for sandwiches. 67 minutes help- ing others is only a small portion of supporting others but it made a differ- ence to the Wolwerivier Community. Many of our winter warmer blankets and soups were thankfully received by these community residents. We have continued to support the SPCA through donations of cat and dog food as well as a civvies day to raise awareness for the cause. We ended the year with Care Packages for a variety of Retirement Homes. These care packages provided the el- derly in our community with a little ex- tra over the festive season. Many were delighted with these small but mean- ingful parcels. We would like to thank all those who give so generously to the many worthy causes we support. Please continue to partner with us as we work towards making the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time. SECONDARY Our dynamic 2018/2019 Interact Committee inspires us to give back to our community and reach out to those around us who need assistance or care in some or other way. They create awareness for needs in our immediate community as well as instil a sense of serving selflessly. INTERACT COMMITTEE FOR 2019 Laura Maclagan Team Project Coordinator Nieka Ireland & Christine Greig PR team Georgia Bowles Historian Kaylee Musikanth Treasurer Bathandwa May Secretary Courtney vanWyk Vice-President Mwenda Phiri President Excerpt from Interact President, Mwenda Phiri’s speech presented at the Interact Assembly: “Interact stands for International Action. It is a kind of Junior Rotary Club for young people between the ages of 13 and 18.All Interact Clubs are part of the Rotary Inter- national Organisation and every club must be sponsored by a Rotary Club. Most In- teract Clubs are based in schools but in some parts of the world, they are in villag- es and towns as part of the community. It is not a religious organisation – it accepts young people of all creeds and ethnic backgrounds. Our slogan is Service above Self. Rotary is a global network of neigh- bours, friends, leaders, and problem-solv- ers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.We are very privileged to have Blouberg Rotary as our sponsor.” Our main goal for the year was inclusivity. We focused on giving back to the people in our community and beyond. We worked very hard to visit, donate and raise money for people and organisations in need but we did not leave animals and the environ- ment behind. Interact proudly supported learners with their own initiatives such as: Project 18, by Blake Pittaway, A brighter life campaign, by Court- ney van Wyk and The Mwenda Phiri initiative.