- Annual Projects

- Brightlycolouredsight
- Charity Ball
- Christmas Cakes

- Ongoing Projects

- Food and Clothing Bank
- Ikutseng
- Love Boxes
- Emmanuel Hospic

Potchefstroom Lions Club currently runs the following projects and is also involved in the following charity projects:

Project: BrightlyColouredSight

A project aimed at raising funds for the visually impaired, with focus of sponsoring Guide Dogs through The South African Guide Dogs Association (SAGA) in hosting an art exhibition and selling artwork donated by artists from all over the country.  The project started small in 2008 with work mainly donated by local artist.  In its second year it grew to include artists of all over SA and a staggering R90 000 was raised, the equivalent of 9 guide dogs.  The Transnet Foundation also came on board with a significant donation.

Money to train two guide dogs was recently donated to the Guide-Dog Association.  The price of one guide dog is R10 000.00.

Project: Love Boxes

One of the first major projects the club took on in its Charter Year 2006.  Its focus is to ease the suffering of traumatised children during those crucial hours and days of the trauma. Trauma include abuse, abandonment, death of parents, major illness etc.  The project literally started with shoe boxes with 5 basic items, being soap, wash cloth, toothbrush, toothpaste and a soft toy.  The project grew to include, sweets, colouring book, crayons, porridge, seasonal clothing and in some cases underwear due to it being taken in for evidence during abuse cases.

The project now consists of the items in a sturdy plastic travel box or a bag.  Corporate Companies recently became involved and they include AngloGold Ashanti, Grinaker-LTA and the Dischem Foundation to mention a few. It now has expanded to include adult woman.

Project services the greater Potchefstroom, North West and even as far as Malawi.

Ikhutseng School

This is the adopted school of the club and regular interactions with the children include, meals, school bags, school goodies, burglar bars etc.  Future ventures include: vegetable garden, soccer/sport field, etc.

It came to our attention that the school was promised computers by the Educational Department, but due to the unsafe classrooms, the request was turned down.  We secured the place, installed burglar bars and the school is now ready to receive their computers.  A need of 10 computers still exist.

Emmanuel Hospice

The Hospice takes care of 69 children of Long-Term ill patients and 170 Long-Term ill patients.  They are treated on a home based care system and are not in-patients.

Foodbank

For the NW Province and Potchefstroom.  The project aims at providing a facility to act as a food bank to collect, store and re-distribute food to charities, schools, soup-kitchens and old age homes.

Operation BrightSight 

10 people who are visually impaired received glasses through Lions International.  Spectacles and glasses are also recycled and through LI, these glasses are made available to people who can’t afford it.

I Believe Projects

We will join the Lions Clubs International President's Project to plant 1 000 000 trees over the world in 2011/2012.

New Life DayCare Centre 

The centre cares for 170 children.  The classrooms are shacks (tin houses) and are extremely hot in Summer and Extremely cold in winter.  The centre needs new classrooms.

Care for the care-givers

This project has the aim to care for those who care for the little ones.  No-one ever focuses on these members.  They are the welfare officers at the different facilities, the child-line operators, the members of the safe-house and members of the child protection units.  Money is needed to train these members as councillors and to assist them financially, because most of them do this on a voluntary basis. 

Your kind consideration and support to these projects is appreciated. 

The following people are involved with the project and may be contacted:

• Lion Phillip van Dyk
  
  
• Lion Deon van Tonder