Outreach Projects
Amazing Graces Outreach Activity:
- The Soup Kitchen
The Soup Kitchen Outreach-event is a unique year-end function or corporate event, during which your team can contribute something to needy communities on our doorstep. Soup Kitchens can be presented anywhere, so you choose the township or area closest to you. Our pilot project was developed in Olievenhoutbosch (township 10km from Centurion)
Presenting a Soup Kitchen is a lunch-time event during which your team prepares and presents a meal to 50-60 children after a guided drive-by of the township. The food is donated by your team, but bought and prepared beforehand
by the project coordinators.
This is an amazing opportunity to get involved in our communities with their great physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Every contribution, however small, emanates so much love and positive energy that you will feel you have received more than you gave.
Programme:
A typical Soup Kitchen Outreach-event-programme:
11:00 Pick-up at your office
11:45 Guided drive-by of selected township
12:30 Arrive at Kings Hope Church and help prepare food
13:00 Serve food
14:00 Depart for office.
Cost (for a once-off Soup Kitchen presentation):
The amount of R8 900 (estimate) can serve about 100 children with the following:
Menu: hot dog rolls, hot dog sausages, yoghurt, fruit, peanuts, fruit juice.
It also includes Kitchen equipment (water and electricity; cleaning materials); Utensils (paper pates and cups; serving trays and containers); Kitchen staff (project manager, cook, servers and cleaners); administration (telephone, transport for buying and delivery).
General:
Frequency: To have a once-off soup kitchen presentation is wonderful and helps a lot to inspire hope and understanding among givers and receivers. However, To have a commitment to present this on a regular basis will go so much further to provide some food security to children in many poor areas.
Flexibility: Specific quotes, receipts and report are part of every project.
Promotion: Sponsor can use promotional material before, during and after the event to identify the sponsor in the communities involved.
Soccer League
1. Background
Amazing Graces Social Investments (NPC 2011/009633/08)
The company
Amazing Graces channels Social Investment activities from South African and international corporates, tourism and other interest groups to needy areas in South Africa.
Amazing Graces Social Investment has been registered as a NPC (Non-Profit Company) under the Companies Act. The directors are: Dr Hanneke du Preez (Traces of Africa); Ms Annamarie van der Walt (Ithemba) and Pastor Patrick Mengoai (Project Developer, Amazing Graces).
Brief Curricula vitaes of Directors:
Dr Hanneke du Preez
Studied and lectured Intercultural and Political Communication at UNISA. Democracy educator pre-1994-elections (used township-surveys, radio-talks and publications). Presenter of culture talks and ubuntu workshops. Mayoral speech-writer. Started and developed culture tour operator company.
Ms Annamarie van der Merwe
To follow.
Pastor Patrick Mengoai
Obtained Bachelor of Theology-degree I 2009 at North West University. Worked in the ministry of the Reformed Church of SA at Olievenhoutbosch. Established home care bases in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, orphanages and old age homes in Olievenhoutbosch, soup kitchens in Wierdapark. Started a soccer team and coached them for 3 years, served on the Board of Kings Hope for 7 years. Part-time lecturer at Theological college. Preaches at various churches by invitation.
Location
Amazing Graces is housed in the offices of Traces of Africa (Pty) Ltd at 24 Alexandra Rd, Irene, Centurion. The pilot project is operated in Olievenhoutbosch, 10 km south of Centurion. Here we have offered several soup kitchens to school children (using the premises of Kings Hope church as a base), supported the Old Age home, and are starting the Soccer League with about 16 local teams. Our Project Developer is Pastor Mengoai, community leader in Olievenhoutbosch.
Once the model is established, projects will be initiated in townships around Pretoria, Midrand, Johannesburg, East- and West Rand, and eventually countrywide.
Target market
The following entities (hereafter called the ‘sponsor’) to become involved/contribute to Amazing Graces projects:
1. South African corporates, companies and organisations
2. International corporates, companies and organisations
3. International tour operators and travel agents
4. SA interest groups eg religious, political, civic organisations, schools, social clubs.
Involvement can take various forms:
1. Sponsorships eg sponsor a soccer player/team/match
2. Taking ownership of a project and become involved in the training, operations, administration of a project eg soccer tournament
3. Involvement in a specific activity eg soccer game.
Benefits to sponsors:
1. BEE scorecard-compliance
2. Tax benefits
3. Social responsibility initiatives
4. Feel-good effect: knowing that you are making a positive contribution to SA and its people
The Soccer League
The concept:
Why soccer?
Any sport is known to have a positive effect on individuals, communities and countries. Specifically for the youth, it channels the energy constructively and counters crime and substance abuse. In areas characterised by physical and emotional poverty, sport provides hope and a purpose to live.
Soccer in particular is popular among the African youth, and attracted wider popularity among the other population groups after our successful hosting of the Soccer World Cop in 2010.
Soccer has the added advantages of not being capital expensive, can be played basically anywhere, fosters team spirit and team discipline, and is a healthy non-dangerous sport.
How soccer is structured in South Africa
In most main centres in South Africa, football is structured by LFA (Local Football Association) under the auspices of SAFA. However, there are many areas wherein there is a lot of interest and talent, but teams are loose and unstructured.
The Olievenhoutbosch case study
Olievenhoutbosch (south of Centurion) is a case in study. There are about 16 enthusiastic soccer teams who need to be formalized and SAFA-accredited and who will compete in a tournament 4x per year. The challenges are training, infrastructure (lack of proper playing grounds) and equipment.
Formalization takes place by creating a League – planned matches over a year-period. A community-driven initiative (eg Amazing Graces) initiates the League and seeks sponsors for he League or parts thereof.
The soccer team-structure
1. Each team has a Team Management (consisting of a chairperson or a secretary), a coach and signed-up members (players).
2. The team members (players) report to the Team Management
3. Team Management reports to the LFA association
4. LFA reports to Amazing Graces
5. Amazing Graces reports to SAFA.
The Amazing Graces soccer team
The best players from the league are selected to become the Amazing Graces team. (This team might challenge corporates and tourists for friendly matches to foster cultural appreciation, community involvement and team- and nation-building). They will partake in the Vodacom league (sponsored by Amazing Graces’ sponsors), and eventually the MTN and ABSA PSL.
Sponsorships
Sponsors are needed to help with administration, training, equipment and care. The following sponsoring opportunities exist:
1. Sponsor an event/tournament (eg the trophy, medals and prize money. (As a spin-off the local team can challenge a company-team for fun-team-building and cultural exchange).
2. Sponsor a player: transport, food, accommodation, clothes (even a salary), life skills-education.
3. Sponsor a team: same as above. Also education and training for managers, admin staff etc.
4. Sponsor a football league (LFA). This involves setting dates for football year, determining which team plays on which date.
In practice this will involve the following (Preliminary budget available on request):
• Training a minimum of 12 referees, 24 linesmen and coaches
• Kit for linesmen & referees, 12 soccer balls for each team per year, 12 whistles.
• 16 Soccer kits and monthly grants for participating teams
• Administration of soccer league
• Training sessions for players
Contact:
Contact Pastor Patrick Mengoai (graces@tracesofafrica 082 718 7344) for more information.
Repairs: Seal leaking roofs and paint dilapidated buildings to upgrade the physical environment of the helpless.
Scrap booking: Assist the elderly in re-creating the story of their lives by means of cutting and pasting magazine-pictures into their scrap books.
An Amazing Graces-centre (an existing or new building) in each township, village or area will coordinate all feeding, caring, training, and fun activities in that area. Corporates who want to be the 'mother' and 'adopt a township' will have physical presence in this structure.
