Crimeline and Shout helps



CRIME LINE, SHOUT REACHES OUT TO ABUSED CHILDREN ON MANDELA DAY Crime Line and the SHOUT Foundation handed over 300 comfort packs to Matla a Bana as part of Mandela Day celebrations in Johannesburg today. The comfort packs were made possible with generous donations from the SHOUT Foundation and AMKA Products. “In the spirit of Mandela Day and considering Tata Nelson Mandela’s love for children, we thought it fitting to support Matla a Bana. Together with the police they do amazing work to give comfort and support to children who have been abused,” said Crime Line coordinator, Marisa Oosthuizen. Matla a Bana is a non-profit organisation that seeks to minimise the secondary abuse children suffer when they report crimes against them. They run a number of projects to achieve this goal, including the creation of child-friendly reporting facilities at police stations, training in working with children, incentive awards and comfort packs. Today’s comfort packs targets the 3 – 5-year-old age groups and include a soft toy, soap and a washcloth, toothpaste and toothbrush, tissues, body lotion, colouring book and crayons, a Jungle Oats bar, Tennis biscuits, juice and a pair of underwear. “This year the organisation will be assisting 20 000 children who have been abused. We are humbled and honoured to make a small contribution towards achieving this target. We had about 60 volunteers who came through to do their 67 minutes for Mandela Day,” Oosthuizen added. SHOUT ambassadors Danny K and Kabelo Mabalane attended today’s proceedings and together with wives Lisa and Gail helped to put together the comfort packs. “It is a privilege to be part of doing good for our country. We have an important role to play in giving our children a voice. I think what we did today was a cool way to celebrate Tata Madiba’s birthday,” said Kabelo. “It is thanks to the donations from people like you that SHOUT is able to donate funds towards organisations such as Matla Bana and do something good. Madiba has made the ultimate sacrifice for us to aspire to and today is all about coming together and putting our hearts into a cause we love,” Danny K added. The comfort packs were handed over to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) of the SAPS. “Next year we celebrate 20 years of democracy and as Lead SA has urged, let’s not stop at just doing our 67 minutes, but 20 hours of volunteerism in celebration of this historic milestone in South Africa,” Oosthuizen urged.