On Tuesday I was invited to attend the hand-over ceremony of StreetSmart SA, of the monies raised by the voluntary R5 added to the bill of 92 restaurants around the country. The more than R1 million raised nationally goes to social upliftment projects for street children.

StreetSmart SA Chairman Melanie Burke welcomed the guests and thanked her Board, including Nils Heckscher, Caroline Bagley, Margi Biggs, and Su Birch,  for their support. She thanked the restaurants collecting the money for StreetSmart SA in particular, saying that without them there would be no ability to get involved in the upliftment of street children. StreetSmart has been operating for the past eleven years, assisting in street children via the monies raised.

Some of the 31 participating restaurants in Cape Town are Aubergine, Bizerca Bistro, Azure at the Twelve Apostles hotel, Buitenverwachting, Catharina’s at Steenberg, Gold Restaurant, Grand Café & Beach, La Mouette,  Nonna Lina, Savoy Cabbage, and Tobago’s at Radisson Blu in Granger Bay. 

In Cape Town the R600000 raised via the restaurant contributions will go to Cape Town Multi Service Centre, Home from Home – Masiphumulele, Ocean View, and Westlake, Learn to Live, Ons Plek, TLC Outreach Projects, and School of Hope – Thembalitsha Foundation. Learn to Live School of Skills expressed its gratitude about the impact of the StreetSmart SA funding on their children, who have an opportunity to escape their ‘impoverished, gang-infested‘ backgrounds, giving them a chance of a better future. The skills training helps them find employment, and break the cycle of poverty in their families. Beneficiaries of the funds raised in each region are local approved organisations.

Other participating restaurants in other areas are Restaurant at Waterkloof, Foliage, Haute Cabriere, Reuben’s Franschhoek, The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, Cuvee at Simonsig, Jordan Restaurant, Makaron at Majeka House, Rust en Vrede, La Sosta Restaurant in Swellendam, Jemima’s in Oudtshoorn, Qunu at The Saxon, Ritrovo in Pretoria, Emily Moon, Grand Café & Rooms, Nguni Restaurant, and the Fat Fish in Plettenberg Bay.

Comedienne Nik Rabinowitz (in the photograph with Margi Biggs) was funny, and he said he was standing in for Archbishop Tutu, the patron of StreetSmart SA, doing a perfect voice impersonation, but saying that the only difference between the two of them is their height!

StreetSmart is locally registered as a Public Benefit Organisation as well as a non-profit organization. It is an international project, with independent branches in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, and The Netherlands. The organization has published a ‘Responsible Restaurant Guide‘, listing all the StreetSmart SA restaurants.  

StreetSmart SA, Cape Town. Tel (021) 447-3227. www.streetsmartsa.org.za  Twitter: @StreetSmartSA

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: click here  Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein