Girls and Boys Town pays it forward
GBT decides to give back to community
The young people from Girls and Boys Town (GBT) will help the community fight the icy grip of winter. Together with their organisation’s management and partners, GBT will hand over hundreds of much-needed sleeping bags to shelters and other organisations working with vulnerable people in the West Rand communities.
Last year, GBT was the main beneficiary of the inaugural CEOSleepOut™ – a philanthropic challenge which saw more than 200 business leaders and many corporates and organisations raise funds and mobilise other resources to help South Africa’s vulnerable youth.
Now it is the turn of the young residents of GBT who benefited from this initiative to help others. They will be doing this by sharing what they received through corporate goodwill with those in need in the nearby communities.
Developing empathy and a social consciousness are part of GBT’s method to help children and youth overcome their challenges and shine. GBT’s girls and boys face a range of challenges, including abandonment, rape, abuse and exposure to violence. However, their needs are generally the same – safety, a place to call home, support to develop positive habits, social and life skills and a chance to build their own resilience and sustainable independence.
While most of the work done by Girls and Boys Town takes place within communities, some 300 girls and boys are placed in full-time care by the Children’s Courts, and accommodated in GBT’s therapeutic residential care centres.
Organisations that received sleeping bags earlier this month include the Bethany Children’s Home, the NACHAM Community Organisation, the Kagiso Secondary School, the Bongweni School and the Soweto Drama Group.
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