Quaker Service (Cape)

Quaker Service (Cape) has been looking after the needy and destitute in the Western Cape of South Africa for over 30 years.

The charity works by way of a committee of 10 people, mainly drawn from the Cape Western Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. We meet regularly to discuss requests for funding. Our running cost are almost zero as we employ no staff and have no premises. Committee members bring to meeting those causes which they believe are worth supporting. Committee members are responsible for staying in touch with the causes that they support and for ensuring that any funds awarded are applied as intended.

Fundraising is carried out through donations at the local Quaker meeting and through direct donation. People wishing to make anonymous donations to an organization sometimes use Quaker Service to channel their funds knowing that their wishes will be carried out effectively. A specific bequest was made to us some time ago which is intended specifically for the use of elderly Africans. Another bequest has recently been made to assist AIDS orphans receive university education.

The range of requests made to us are many and varied and not all receive our support. We only support NPO’s (non profit organizations) or people referred to us by entities such as the Legal Resource Centre (LRC), Black Sash, World Vision (Paarl), social workers or those that are known to us in some way or other by direct experience.

We prefer to support sustainable causes that help people to help themselves. In return we hope that those that we help will train or help others to become self reliant. Our aim is to give a hand up not a hand-out.

We are particularly interested in funding skills training as there is a chronic need within South Africa for educated and skilled people. We also supply emergency funding to those who have no-where else to turn. We seek to give a hand-up rather than a hand-out. We do not work in isolation but are in regular touch with other relief and development organisations in order to make the best use of resources and to avoid duplication of effort.

Activities and causes supported have included:

Feeding Schemes

Soup kitchens in Delft and Hanover Park

Napier Newerus Child Welfare - childrens feeding scheme for 150 children

Oude Moulen  - sustainable gardening scheme

Various vegetable gardens

Goeddedacht - childrens feeding scheme

Ananda Kutir – feeding project for more than 600 people suffering from HIV/AIDS and TB

S.O.S. Childrens Villages – food for pre-school children

Oasis Association – food and travel money for destitute disabled workers

Men at the Side of the Road – food for work seekers

Werklose Vrouegroep Uniondale – feeding project for children

Elderly

Lunch clubs for the elderly at various locations

St Monica’s home for the elderly

Ikamva Labantu seniors project

Training Schemes

Sewing machines for a sewing group

Training in baking

Training in home care and care for the elderly

Hair braiding training scheme

Sophumelela Sithunga – sewing and skills group for young women

Education

Assistance with school fees and fares for travel to school

African Scholars Fund – support for schoolchildren unable to afford school fees

Miscellaneous

Care for burn victims

Purchase of a wheelchair

A glass eye

Carehaven – the Salvation Army home for abused women

Various crèches

Includid - a project looking after and empowering people with intellectual  disabilities

Clothes and blankets

Eyesight test and a pair of glasses

Financial assistance for carers of orphans

Shoes

Medical expenses

Care for Kids programme supporting families and children suffering from HIV/AIDS

Loaves and fishes – providing shelter and food for the homeless

Black Sash – client assistance, monitoring and casework

SA Red Cross Society – support for fire victims

Ons Plek – a shelter for homeless girls in Cape Town

Further details of some of the schemes supported are found in the Some Projects Supported, More projects supported (MS Word file) documents.