Warm meals for Ethembeni Crisis Care Centre Courtesy of Hollywoodbets and Lighthouse Foundation’s Brighter Future Project
This non-profit organisation is based in the community of KwaNdengezi, just outside of Pinetown. In 2003 the community members saw a need for a rehabilitation centre for women and children due to the high rate of domestic violence within households. This led to the creation of this organisation in 2004. The current nationwide lockdown has shown an even higher need for centres such as this one and it is important that they continue to operate. In saying this, the centre received a R12 500 courtesy of leading bookmaker, Hollywoodbets.
The organisation’s main aim is to protect, support and accommodate abused women and children in their shelter. A total of 35 beneficiaries are currently occupying the centre, who will now receive daily meals thanks to this donation.
This donation came about after the company recently announced their “Brighter Future” project that was set out as a COVID-19 relief plan. The project sees the Hollywoodbets My Community Programme collaborating with Nomzamo Mbatha’s Lighthouse Foundation to distribute R1 million across 60 NPOs and NGOs across all nine provinces in South Africa.
Home Manager for Ethembeni, Abigail Mbongwa, was relieved to have received assistance during this difficult time.
“The impact of COVID-19 has undoubtedly unleashed a food security crisis that has been deeply felt in the poor communities across our nation. We have been working around the clock to try and assist where we can. Thanks to these food parcels from Hollywoodbets, our women and children will receive a decent meal for the next few days and we are entirely appreciative of this,” she said.
This was the second time that Hollywoodbets has shown their support for the organisation.
“We recognise the fantastic work that the centre is doing in looking out for the most vulnerable women and children in their community. We understand that it is currently a very important time to ensure that these vulnerable community members are not forgotten about and therefore we were eager to get involved with the centre again,” explained Zandile Nembe, Hollywoodbets CSI Champion for KZN.
For more information on Ethembeni Crisis Care Centre, or to show them support, you can visit their website here: www.ethembenicrisiscarecentre.org
