At Likhon iThemba the NPO umbrella set up by Kim and Leanne, we are always trying to find ways to become self-sustainable so we do not need to rely on funders and fundraisers to keep our NPO running. This seems to be the way forward with all charities. It is much more difficult  to obtain corporate sponsorship nowadays because, fortunately, there are so many charities and people trying to make a difference in our beautiful country and to help our people and animals that are struggling.

Leanne and I are passionate about Likhon iThemba and all the projects we are running.     We want to see our charity in operation into the far distant future, and we have many ideas we would like to implement to make a difference in South Africa.

Our next venture at Likhon iThemba will be starting up a second hand goods shop in Glenwood, very much like the Oxfam shops in the UK. We will take in any second-hand or new donations ranging from furniture, to sewing items, to kitchen appliances, clothes, bric-a-brac, books and baby items.    You name it we will take it!    Everything will be cleaned and repaired and sold in our shop at a low cost. We are already doing this on a smaller scale at the Golden Hour’s family market on a Sunday in Durban North.  We have had such a positive response from this venture and we love the ripple effect it has with ladies coming to buy goods and taking them to the farms and rural areas to re-sell. This creates jobs and gives people access to items they may not previously have had the opportunity to buy.

The new shop will attract anyone and everyone and be easily accessible with parking, to enable you to pop in and have a browse. We are hoping that in the next few weeks we can offer a service to collect any items you would like to donate to our shop, making it a little easier to donate.  Remember all money raised will be used for Likhon iThemba to run our projects successfully and help as many people and communities as we can.   The goods donated may also be used at House of Love and Hope  (“HOLAH”) Baby  House, or be passed on to our Bowl of Plenty (“BOP”) project to donate to people and communities in need of assistance.

We also have many more projects in the pipeline for which we need to raise funds, such as “Lots of love” â€" setting up teams to visit and bond with babies and children in hospital.   In addition, we are looking into setting up a Special Needs crèche in the future.   So things at Likhon iThemba are growing fast and we cannot wait to see what the future holds.

Likhon iThemba started in a  small way with HOLAH Baby House, taking in and caring for abandoned babies until they are adopted.   This venture has been successful for 4 years and continues to help vulnerable children, having seen 34 babies passing through our home.  We now also run BOP, where we identify areas which need assistance and we do whatever we can to support and help. At BOP we collect donations from communities which want to get involved and help. We distribute these donations of  erishable and non-perishable items, as well as new and second-hand items to crèche’s, families in need and struggling NPO’s. We are now supporting 8 crèches (aprox 200 children) with a food drop-off every month to last them the month.    These crèches are in Umlazi, Inanda, Tongaat and Chestervile. This project is growing rapidly and we are thrilled at the support.

Please contact us if you require any further information, or if you wish to make a donation of goods to any of our projects.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding this beautiful new chapter we are entering.

Love, Hugs and shopping vibes
Leanne, Kim and the Team !