YOUR CHANGE CAN MAKE A BIG CHANGE – BRIGHTS ANNOUNCES CHARITY FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

We have a new charity-support initiative that will be running in all of our stores from July – allowing the public to get involved in an incredibly worthwhile cause!

The R2 for Change Campaign, which will launch to coincide with BRIGHTS’ birthday, will ask customers to consider adding R2 to their in-store purchases at checkout. All of the money raised through this campaign will be donated to The Father’s Heart Community Development, an organisation that works with children and their families in the most impoverished communities of Cape Town.

The Father’s Heart provides consistent intervention and care so that children can reach their full potential, and break past cycles of inequality, poverty and hopelessness. Specifically, the funds raised through the R2 for Change Campaign will go towards the development of a brand-new multi-purpose Child & Youth Development Centre in Fisantekraal which will allow The Father’s Heart to extend its support to hundreds more families and children.

Examples of the support and care that The Father’s Heart provides to the children in the communities – and which will be further facilitated at the new community centre – include access to child protection services, a literacy and numeracy programme, homework support and tutoring, life skills and youth development programmes, safe access to the internet, printers, and other resources required for learning, providing positive role models and mentoring, healthcare screening, ongoing workshops on topics such as hygiene, good decision making, bullying and an afterschool programme that provides nutritious meals, and talent development workshops such as art, drama, dance, Bible studies, music, and leadership training – to name only a few.

Some of the many support initiatives aimed at parents in the community include things like skills training, access to community workers, emergency support in times of crisis, parenting training and support groups and workshops, personal development through leadership training and mentoring, and access to counsellors and therapeutic services.

“This is an exciting new development in the long-term partnership that BRIGHTS Hardware has with The Father’s Heart Community Development and aims to ensure our future sustainability,” says Jill Carolissen, Founder and COO of The Father’s Heart.

“BRIGHTS Hardware was one of The Father’s Heart Community Development’s first partners when we opened our doors in 2019, and have loyally and faithfully continued to partner with us over the years, both with financial support and donations in kind, which has allowed us to serve this community with excellence.”

“They have always invested in our vision and mission of making real and tangible changes in the living conditions and futures of many orphaned and vulnerable children and their families who reside in the impoverished community of Fisantekraal. Their continued support has not only made a great impact on our ability to facilitate and expand our critical work but has also allowed us to extend our support to the greater community as well,” continues Carolissen.

Orlando Luis, the CEO of BRIGHTS Hardware, explains that BRIGHTS decided to launch the R2 for Change Campaign as a way to further support The Father’s Heart and help them build the community centre.

“We are long-term supporters of The Father’s Heart and the phenomenal work that they do in the communities that need help the most. We have also committed to helping support the project further by negotiating with our building suppliers to reduce the pricing of building materials where possible.”

“Giving back to the communities in which we operate is an unwavering commitment and woven into our company ethos. We have several charity initiatives and organisations that we support on an ongoing basis, and every five years, as part of our birthday celebrations, we take on a bigger challenge in support of communities in thanksgiving for how God has blessed us and our business,” says Luis.

”By leveraging the power of small donations from a large number of individuals, we as a non-profit can ensure the sustainability of resources and support for our current participants, so their journey to a brighter future can continue. It also allows us to extend our life-changing impact to the hundreds of other families currently on our waiting list, who are desperate for their own success story, and getting the hand up, not hand out, that we provide. We are incredibly thankful to the hard work and heart of BRIGHTS Hardware, who are constantly willing to contribute to the upliftment of the community around them. If we had more businesses stepping up and turning up the ways BRIGHTS often do, our country would look a lot different,” says Michael Carolissen, CEO of The Father’s Heart.

Your change can make a big change! The R2 for Change Campaign will kick off in July in all nine BRIGHTS stores, and the funds raised will be donated to The Father’s Heart every quarter. Customers will find further communications on the campaign in the form of posters, shelf talkers and point-of-sale displays in all the BRIGHTS stores and on BRIGHTS’s social media and website.

For more information on The Father’s Heart, please visit www.thefathersheart.org.za