We do not treat corporate responsibility as a gesture or add-on. It is part of our core business and helps us to accomplish sustainable business success.
Since our first project in 2000 - the building of Masikhule Creche at KTC/Crossroads in Nyanga Township near Cape Town - The Backpack has continued to get involved in helping the community; from knitting blankets for sick babies, helping young children with HIV, and trying to amass used soccer boots for kids with nothing but a passion for the game. We try and help all that come our way! Our pet project for 2009 is assisting underprivileged children in an after-school sport and homework program.
The Soccer Project
In an area of Cape Town notorious for gangsters and drug and alcohol-related problems, one local - Mario van Niekerk - began a soccer program designed to keep kids off the streets and in school. Mario's Sport Academy was born. In 2007, we met up with Mario and introduced an after-school homework, tutoring, and lifeskills program. In a neighbourhood where literacy is 24% and the average child drops out of school at 12 years old. Come to The Backpack and chat with Mia to sign up for a volunteer afternoon of coaching and playing soccer. Your time will put a smile on many faces!
Even though there are some girls kicking the football with Mario, to cater for girls an extra activity was added to the project - jump rope! This is a new sport craze sweeping over the youth of Cape Town. The Backpack has extended its funding to all learners at Woodlands Primary School to introduce a physical education program at Woodlands' Primary School in Heideveld.
Please donate your R50 key deposit and the funds will go towards this program.
With the Vallies Stitch and Bitch Program, we have collectively knitted over one hundred blankets for AIDS orphans at Baphumelele Creche in Khayelitscha Township. We have old age homes contributing to this project with their fantastic knitting skills. If you can knit plain, come along, relax in the lounge or bar at The Backpack, and knit a square or two! If you can't knit but would like to contribute to keeping the little ones snug, we gladly accept donations of wool.
Been traveling a while and got a pile of unwanted clothes in your backpack? Donate them at reception and we'll sell them on your behalf, with the proceeds going to The Soccerand Jump Rope Project.
Whether it's your time, your money, or both, you can be guaranteed the satisfaction and fulfillment of helping out children and people in need!
By understanding, addressing and helping the social needs of the economically and socially disadvantaged communities of South Africa, we are able to work towards a just society in which all people get to share in the wealth of the country.
