The Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s (CCID) “Show you care” campaign has raised R50 000 to help key NGO partners further their work with the homeless.
Launched in July 2019, the annual three-month campaign had the following objectives: to collect funds to support Social Development’s NGO partners, to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless and to showcase the department’s all-important work with people living on the street in the CBD.
This year’s campaign, which had the ambitious target of raising R100 000, has seen CCID teams engaging in a range of activities – with the support of stakeholders throughout the CBD – in a bid to reach this goal. More than 200 CBD retailers, restaurants and hotels came on board to support the campaign.
Says Pat Eddy, CCID Social Development manager: “Like all major international cities, Cape Town is experiencing an increase in the numbers of people living on the street and there are increasing demands on our NGO partners. For this reason, I am most grateful for the overwhelming response from our stakeholders in the CBD in their support of the campaign, and also to members of the public who made a donation, big or small.”
CCID CEO Tasso Evangelinos shares Pat’s sentiments: “We are grateful for your donations, and heartened by the response of the hundreds of retailers who agreed to display “table talkers” in their venues.”
Fund-raising will continue until the end of the year, even though the campaign has officially come to an end. The funds will be distributed to the CCID’s NGO partners, namely Khulisa Social Solutions, Straatwerk, The Hope Exchange, Youth Solutions Africa, Ons Plek and The Homestead. The money will go towards providing shelter space, food, clothing, work-based rehabilitation programmes and social services to those who find themselves destitute or down on their luck.
CCID Social Development social worker Tatenda Mucharunga at a campaign activation
COLLECTIVE EFFORT
The campaign was promoted mainly on social media through sponsored posts and also on the CCID’s social media platforms, namely the Show You Care and CCID Facebook pages, Twitter and Instagram. Hundreds of “table-talkers” with the code and details of the fundraising drive were also placed on tables and countertops in restaurants, hotels and retailers throughout the CBD.
In addition, a limited number of street-pole posters bearing the campaign message and the SnapScan code were put up in pedestrianised areas of the Central City. And for the last push, CCID campaign activation teams, including social and field workers from Social Development, promoted the campaign in St Georges Mall at the Earth Fair Food Market.
“The activations in public spaces gave our team of social and field workers an opportunity to explain our work and engage with issues around people living on the streets, in addition to raising all-important funds,” Pat notes.
MAKE A LIFE-CHANGING DONATION
Please help us to give hope and the chance of a better life to people living on the street. We welcome donations big or small and will be fund-raising until the end of the year. If you’d like to donate via SnapScan, use this link: https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/STB0F588. The code and details of the fundraising drive can still be found on the 380 “table-talkers” on tables and countertops in more than 200 restaurants, hotels and retailers throughout the CBD.
You can also donate by SMSing “give” to 38088 to donate R10. If you prefer to make an EFT payment, visit www.showyoucare.co.za for banking details and terms and conditions for all donations received. Donations can also be made via PayPal.
IMAGES: CCID