The Heartlands Baby Sanctuary is a temporary home for babies and to make sure they cover the costs of running the sanctuary, they welcome people to adopt a cot, duck or tree.
Somerset West, South Africa (15 February 2023) – The Heartlands Baby Sanctuary gives unwanted babies or babies in the process of adoption, a safe haven. The temporary home is run by staff and volunteers and to date, has helped hundreds of babies.
The sanctuary receives funding from various streams most of which, the organisation needs to source itself. Currently, government contributes to 24% of the budget – the rest is up to the team. To make up the difference, the sanctuary has worked hard to become as self-sustained as possible. With the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the sanctuary lost the majority of its funding and it is still trying to get back to where it was prior to 2020.
In an average month, the sanctuary can go through 4800 nappies and 1900 bottles of formula. Staff and volunteers work 24/7 to ensure the safety of the babies and children.
The team went on to establish a food garden in its journey to self-sustainability. The food garden would supplement their own kitchen costs, but it is mostly used to bring an income in from sales. As they discussed previously, it would aid in their goal of being a self-sustained organisation. So far, they have had great success with the project. Since starting the garden, it has gone from strength to strength, including the happy addition of chickens and ducks. As the Seeds of Hope Garden grows, it opens a world of possibilities for the team.
What started as a goal for sustainability has turned into an opportunity to offer wholesome food to the community and a venue to work on skills development projects.
Now, people can “Adopt-A-Cot”, “Adopt-A-Duck” or “Adopt-A-Tree” for R150 per month. This will go towards the running costs of the baby sanctuary and help them generate more income through the sale of eggs, fruit and vegetables and other foods sourced from the garden.
The team have several fundraising events planned for 2023 as well, so should you wish to attend, you can find the website below. While the sanctuary is a safe-haven for babies, the team welcome volunteers and visitors.
“And why not pop in for a tour of the Sanctuary, so that you can see first-hand the amazing work that is being done here behind the scenes and find out exactly where your donations go. Please touch base with Nikki ahead of time to make an appointment for a tour.”
You can reach out to Nikki via email here. Should you wish to support the sanctuary, you can do so on the website here.
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