A beacon of hope for the needy, the Collen Mashawana Foundation will be hosting a fundraising 10th anniversary gala dinner on April 23. On the night, the will also be awarding a home to the value of R1 million to a winner.
The Collen Mashawana Foundation (CMF) has surely lived up to their mission of becoming one of main drivers of poverty eradication as seen through a number of community empowerment projects the company has spearheaded over the last ten years.
A beacon of hope for the needy, the foundation has adopted a humanitarian triangle approach of reducing poverty by providing essential needs to disadvantaged communities, addressing housing issues by building and providing free housing to the poor and assisting in improving the country’s health system by ensuring the poor of the poorest have access to safe water and sanitation.
In the past two years alone, the foundation has built over 260 homes and it’s in their plans to continue to build more.
As CMF chairman Collen Mashawana explained, the foundation is extremely passionate about changing the lives of South Africans. “The foundation’s primary goal is to reach out to the most vulnerable within our communities. We have found that the lack of access to essential services is a key underlining factor for poverty. The consequence of this is a society that does not have meaningful participation in its economy, and we aim to mobilise social cohesion and assist with the eradication of poverty. We strongly believe that the responsibility to build our nation is not solely on government, but if we work together we can achieve more.”
To celebrate the work that they have done over the last decade, the CMF will be hosting a fundraising gala dinner on April 23. The planned dinner get-together forms, by and large, the foundation’s 10th anniversary milestone “of giving hope and dignity to child headed families, people living with disabilities and the elderly,” he added.
“Our goal is to continue our mandate of restoring justice and dignity to the lives of the less fortunate, alleviate poverty and hunger while building sustainable communities and economically active youth.”
The dinner will be attended by some of the country’s top dignitaries, community builders, and business leaders, as well as beneficiaries of the foundation. “The gala dinner will be an incredible evening of celebration,” said the foundation’s COO Austin Mashawana, adding: “We will be celebrating the people we’ve had the privilege to positively impact, while giving recognition to all individuals and stakeholders who made this all possible.”
As announced earlier this month, the foundation will also be giving away R50 000 to a publicly nominated community builder on the night. The foundation will also be awarding a home to the value of R1 million to one winner on the night of the gala dinner.
