With paintbrushes, garden tools and plenty of youthful enthusiasm, Northwood’s Grade 9 boys spent Community Connect Week helping refresh The Domino Foundation’s spaces.
Durban, South Africa (25 August 2026) – Armed with pots of paint and brushes, garden forks and shovels, 15 Northwood Grade 9 learners set about tackling their to-do list for Community Connect Week at a charity close to their hearts: The Domino Foundation.
On each of the four days of the initiative, a new cohort of 15 Northwood School boys brought youthful enthusiasm and energy to the grounds of their nearby neighbour.
Joining 240 of their peers, who were involved in similar outreaches at 15 other organisations, the boys rolled up their sleeves and got to work sprucing up the NPO’s storage facility with a fresh coat of paint and some garden work. They also planted spekboom to fill the empty spaces left after the building operations at the Babies’ Home.
There was no sense of compulsory labour from the young volunteers; instead, all the work was undertaken with healthy quantities of boyish cheerfulness and noise. One participant described their light-hearted labour with the NPO as “fun with a focus”.
Northwood staff member Suzanne Witthoft explained why Domino had been chosen:
“Being so close to their offices has made it easy to partner with their various programmes, and we knew the major makeover at the home had left their grounds needing some TLC.”
Not only did the boys provide the labour, but their parents also generously supplied the paint, brushes, bread and spekboom – a beautiful showcase of what happens when young people give their time and energy to a cause close to home.
As with any facility that sees a lot of through-traffic and varied activity from staff, residents and visitors, Domino is always open to welcoming volunteers who can help maintain and upgrade its spaces.
For information about how you can give of your time and talents, interested people may contact the NPO’s Connector, Thembeka Gumede, at [email protected].
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