Shine Literacy Centre volunteer, Claudia Scherer, is appealing to the public to donate mattresses for young pupils of Prestwich Primary School in Green Point.
Ms Scherer has been volunteering with Shine for 10 years, teaching English literacy to Grade 2 pupils at the school.
Shine provides structured English literacy support to children, as well as storybooks and readers, and empowers parents and caregivers through Family Literacy Workshops.
Children work with trained volunteers once or twice a week, during the school day, for at least one year.
The Shine Centre is in desperate need of mattresses to help young Prestwich Primary pupils who arrive as early as 6am by public transport.
“The kids stand in front of the school until the school starts at 8am and when the volunteers arrive to teach them around 11, they are already tired and struggle to focus in their study sessions,” said Ms Scherer.
“I have a first hand experience with the kids and they are always extremely tired during sessions and often haven’t eaten in the morning and even though the school has a feeding programme, it doesn’t always work out the way it should,” she said.
Ms Scherer said she’s never had children of her own and when she came to SA in 2004 she realised how blessed she’d been in her life and she decided to get involved in helping those who are in need.
If you can help, contact Claudia Scherer-Scheltema on 021 434 3952 or 082 5111 433 or Prestwich Primary School Centre Manager Zethu Mtati on 083 785 9281. You can also send an email to prestwich@shineliteracy.org.za