”Shared awareness” and “interconnectedness” are two of the values Crawford International La Lucia nurtures in its student body to develop future changemakers.
The school’s Client Experience Officer, Kerry Smith, put it simply: ”We believe in giving back. Community involvement sharpens our students' awareness and compassion for others.” This was given very concrete expression when the school packed and donated 375 relief hampers for The Domino Foundation’s Disaster Relief programme. The school’s Pre-Primary, Preparatory and College rallied to the call and donated non-perishables in abundance. The learners then spent time packing these into the buckets which Domino will distribute through partnering churches and other groups to needy families and individuals in crisis. Cathy Whittle, Domino’s Operations Manager, added that a portion of the relief hampers are kept in reserve as part of the programme’s mitigation preparedness. “Durban and KZN in general has seen a number of large-scale crisis situations over the past few years, as well as recurring emergencies like localised flooding and shack fires. We and other similar agencies have developed proactive coordination systems to get the aid to where it is needed as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”
One of Crawford’s learners who played their part in the initiative spoke of the experience: “I realised that there are so many people in our communities with great needs and who feel helpless. This was a way I and my fellow Crawfordians could make a contribution to alleviate difficult situations.”
Kerry added: “We are very proud of our learners’ response to the call to put tangible action to the values we nurture as we prepare them to be global leaders.”
Other schools interested in being involved in changing our communities can contact Thembeka Gumeda, Domino’s Connector, at Connect@domino.org.za.
