Durban - Child Welfare Durban and District and the Sibaya Community Trust will be hosting a Dial for a Child telethon this week to raise funds for the Edith Benson Babies Home.
The home was gutted by a fire in 2018. The telethon will take place on Wednesday and Thursday this week between 8.30am and 4pm.
Jane Pillay, trust fund manager at Sibaya Community Trust, said she came up with the idea for a telethon.
“The Sibaya Community Trust led by our chairman Vivian Reddy donated R7.5 million to the rebuilding of the Edith Benson Babies Home earlier this year after the devastating fire in 2018. There has been great progress in rebuilding the home, however, I saw a need for more help as there are still many items required such as baby cots and cupboards. This was how the idea
of the telethon came about.”
They were calling on companies to support the telethon as part of corporate social investment and the public.
“Any member of the public can join as a participant. You will have 30 minutes to call 10 people to ask them to donate to the rebuilding of Edith Benson Babies Home. Call your friends and family to donate or make arrangements prior to the telethon for your contacts to donate.”
Interim general manager of the Child Welfare Durban and District Rajan Pillay said the Edith Benson Babies Home fire was devastating. “It is with great joy that we embarked on rebuilding of the home a few months ago – five years after a devastating fire in 2018 that burnt down the home.”
Pillay said the telethon was one of the primary fund-raising initiatives.“We appeal to participants to pledge any amount affordable to them to this worthy cause.”
Pillay said participants will have access to telephone lines at the Edith Benson Babies Home located at 23 Garbutt Rd, Sherwood. “As of November more than 10 000 babies were abandoned in South Africa. With collective efforts, we can rebuild the home and provide a safe, nurturing environment for these vulnerable babies.”