Dear Partner,
During Saturday night 18th September, a significant fire raged through the informal settlement in the area of Overcome Heights which is in Capricorn/Vrygrond. 70 homes were totally destroyed and the 283 occupants lost everything they possessed in the fire.
Living Hope has been there on the ground since Sunday morning helping wherever we can, working through the Community leaders and other stakeholders working on the ground. Living Hope will be distributing 192 Mattresses, 187 wonderfully warm blankets and 2nd hand clothing. We also have sufficient pots and 2 plate stoves to give to each rebuilt home. In terms of feeding Living Hope is involved with two of its kitchens on the ground. We are cooking porridge for breakfast for all fire victims, supplied by Gift of the Givers. Lunch is being prepared and served by Gift of the Givers. Living Hope’s kitchens are doing supper and we need a lot of bulk type foods for these suppers.
The desperate needs are as follows:
More blankets and plates, as well as lots of building materials. The fire victims have to make do to rebuild their homes from the scraps of metal recovered from the fire. Any form of building material that could help to rebuild a shack is needed as immediately as possible. This would include any form of flooring such as carpets or strong plastic sheeting.
Building materials, blankets and food for the supper meals can be dropped off at our Living Hope branch in Capricorn which is situated at 27 Drury Rd and is literally the very first building in Capricorn near the Pick n Pay Shopping Centre, off Prince George Drive.
Alternately you can make a deposit of money into Living Hope’s Disaster Relief bank account which is as follows:
Bank: FNB
Branch: 202 309
Account name: Disaster Appeal account
Account Number: 62672419267
Or go onto our website (www.livinghope.co.za) and click on the ‘How you can help’ tab and click on Disaster relief and follow the prompts from there.
Thanks so much as you partner together with the desperate fire victims of Overcome Heights. Let’s all help and do share this post as far as you can in the Deep South of Cape Town.
John V Thomas
Executive Director: Living Hope