Sol Plaatje University (SPU) staff and student leaders from the Department of Student Affairs visited Bophelo Child and Youth Care Centre in Kimberley as part of a community outreach initiative at which they handed over delicious treats to children.
Bophelo Child and Youth Care Centre is a non-profit organisation that provides long-term care and support for abandoned and neglected children as well as children with special needs. They also create the prospect of a ‘forever home’ by caring for abandoned or neglected babies until they are placed for adoption.
The donation followed the annual Vice-Chancellor’s Official Welcome Ceremony, at which Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Andrew Crouch urged new students to always remember their duty to give back to the society they come from. “This is an opportunity for you to advance yourself and those communities you are going to serve going forward,” he said.
Bophelo Centre currently has two homes and is managed by Ms Jolene Steenkamp, assisted by several caregivers. During the handover, the caregivers were filled with joy and expressed their appreciation at the thoughtful gesture by the University.
Dean of Student Affairs Ms Nicole Morris applauded the student leaders for their initiative in distributing the food packs to the Bophelo Centre. “Interactions of this nature are proof of SPU’s commitment to living the #SPUCares mantra, especially around our values of care and our core ethos. In bringing our strategic goals and objectives to life through community engagement, social responsiveness, servitude and enriching the broader community around us, we reaffirm our commitment to developing Community Engagement as a scholarly activity, by constantly striving for social justice in our community.”
