South Africans looking to assist individuals and families of Alexandra Township (Alex) in improving their lives can now ‘Sponsor a Child’ through Rays of Hope, a non-profit organisation (NPO) based in Johannesburg.

Children from the Rose Act Saturday School, which is coordinated by Rays of Hope.

The initiative aims to help raise much-needed funds for the beneficiaries of social outreach programmes that Rays of Hope facilitates, based on three key pillars of support – education, orphaned and vulnerable children, and work-readiness.

“Many of the people in Alex endure awful living, learning and working conditions. Our goal is not to ‘fix’ the circumstances they face, but to walk alongside them and offer support in whatever way we can,” says Sihle Mooi, CEO of Rays of Hope.

“The Sponsor a Child initiative will directly benefit people living in Alex to help them to build better, brighter futures for themselves, and allows those who would like to help this community to give a gift that keeps on giving for years to come,” he continues.

Proceeds from the Sponsor a Child initiative will go towards advancing three of the eight programmes run by Rays of Hope. Sponsors can pledge between R300 and R1,000 each month for a one-year period, which will cover the running costs for the beneficiaries of each of the programmes.

The Ithemba Labantwana program supports orphaned and vulnerable children, the Rose Act Saturday School offers extra maths and English classes and Ignition enables matriculants to cope with higher education.

These programmes include Ithemba Labantwana, which supports orphaned and vulnerable children in Alex, the Ignition programme which enables matriculants from Alex schools to study and cope with higher education level learning and then the Rose-Act Saturday School programme, which offers extra maths and English classes to learners from Grade 4 to Grade 9.

All donations made to Rays of Hope are eligible for a Section 18A tax certificate.

Simply go to www.RaysOfHope.co.za/Sponsor, choose the programme you want to support with your sponsorship and fill in your details and the amount you would like to pledge to Sponsor a Child for a year. You can also contact Sandy at info@RaysOfHope.co.za for more information on the initiative and how you can get involved.

Find out more about Rays of Hope and its work in the Alexandra Township community by visiting www.raysofhope.co.za.