Teen comes to rescue of disabled
● Sophia Finestone, 17, helps raise R80,000 for Khaya Cheshire home
She may be just 17 but Sophia Finestone knows how to tackle a problem, so when she heard about the great need at Khaya Cheshire home for the disabled she got on with the job raising nearly R100,000.
Sophia said she volunteered at the Cheshire shop about a year ago to sell clothes and to work as a cashier.
That visit coupled by an inherent need to assist others, saw the teenager pooling all her resources to raise funds to help the home.
“That is how I came into contact with Cheshire, plus a family friend works there as well.
“My family has been associated with a school in Germany for a number of years.
“The school has a scholar exchange programme, we asked the families of the German exchange student programme to donate towards Cheshire.
“With the coronavirus pandemic that came with restrictions, our interact club at [Pearson High] school couldn’t make donations, the Cheshire shop was closed so they had no means of getting funds and we heard from our family friend that things were really bad in Cheshire.”
She said from the R80,000 they were able to collect through donations, they had bought clothes worth R50,000, delivered 200 masks, and were e expecting to deliver 100 more masks as well as personal protective equipment and handsanitisers. “It made sense to donate during this time, because I knew a lot of people were struggling, if anyone is able to help to make a difference please can they donate to
Cheshire,” Sophia said.
Summerstrand Cheshire Home manager Deidre Burger said she felt humbled and inspired that children from such a young age were taught to be compassionate towards others.
If this rubbed off from generation to generation one could only imagine the impact that such kindness could make in the world, Burger said.
“We’re extremely stressed, we’re an organisation that provides full accommodation, medical care and care for 55 physically disabled adults from ages 18 to 80.
“We normally care for people up to the age of 50, but we don’t kick them out once they reach 50, they stay until we can no longer provide for them so most stay here as their last outpost.
“We have a day-care facility called Khaya Cheshire for children up to the age of 18 which is in Walmer and these children come from the poorest of the poor.”
According to Burger, they had to find other means of generating money as their operational costs had not dropped, but had instead increased during the lockdown.
“We haven’t received our subsidy, our financial year ended on April 1 so we’re still waiting for our funding, our shop where we sell old clothes is closed due to the lockdown regulations.
“The shop is another means of trying to generate funds, our Khaya Cheshire outreach programme for disabled children in Walmer township and that school has been closed since March, because of the lockdown.
“We’ve been sending food parcels during the lockdown to the families and their children, but we worry about their education,” Burger said.
Eastern Cape provincial social development spokesperson Gcobani Maswana said he would investigate the claim that Cheshire Homes had not received its funds.
Burger said if anyone wanted to donate they could contact her on 083-500-0818.