Johannesburg, 08 Sep 2008
Bidvest company, Konica Minolta South Africa, has stepped up to fulfil the appeal for copiers shown on a recent episode of Carte Blanche. The company has donated two Di2510f machines to the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society (JCWS), for use at both the Othandweni Family Care Centre, in Soweto, and the Eldorado Park-based Elton John Masibambisane Centre.
The JCWS was established in October 1909 and is a registered non-profit organisation (NPO) with 18A Tax Exemption status. It provides a range of direct services to abused, abandoned, orphaned and neglected children in the Greater Johannesburg area in the Gauteng province, South Africa.
Says Alan Griffith, Konica Minolta South Africa MD: "The JCWS has provided a much needed service to Gauteng-based communities for almost 100 years, offering support to children and their families within disadvantaged areas in order to assist them as far as possible in regaining their rights, dignity and well-being. By being in a position to assist this organisation with the devices it directly needed, we hope that Konica Minolta South Africa has helped make a small contribution to its continued success."
The Othandweni Family Care Centre is situated in Soweto and offers residential care for children of all ages. This facility has been in existence for more than 20 years and caters for 90 children at any given time - 30 babies and 60 children up to the age of 18. The design of the facility allows older children to live in small cottages accommodating a maximum of 12 each. The children receive ongoing counselling and where appropriate, their parents receive reconstructive services.
The JCWS established the Elton John Masibambisane Centre for orphaned children living in the Kliptown/Eldorado Park area and the surrounding informal settlements. The area is historically disadvantaged and densely populated, with a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection. Extreme poverty, inadequate medical care and poor nutrition all have a negative impact on the life expectancy of the HIV positive residents.
Seed funding was given to JCWS by the Elton John AIDS Foundation for the establishment of the pilot project, which opened in September 2003 to cater for 70 orphans. The day care centre outgrew its initial premises within one year and numbers of children attending the project grow daily, with 180+ children currently registered.
Says Griffith: "The Di2510f devices have one central imaging platform for copying, printing, faxing and scanning, meeting all of JCWS's needs in one machine. The functionality of printing and scanning are already incorporated into the system and need only be activated by a key chip. The machines also feature the ability to archive and distribute faxes, as well as envelope feeding and stapling facilities."
"This much needed donation will go a long way towards helping us make copies of activities and study sheets for the children, as well as helping us meet our reporting obligations to our donors," says Nombulelo Mabombo, Assistant Director, Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.
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