ABOUT USBackground InformationThe "Give Me a Chance" Children's Foundation was established in October 2004 by Delarey and Sandie Brugman. The couple created the Foundation in an effort to make a tangible contribution to South African society which would allow them to look back at the establishment of an organization that would change lives and instil hope into communities that have lost faith. The inspiration: "It all began with a young man called Marco Hendriks. Marco was a 16 years old orphan from our rural community, Kylemore when I first got the opportunity to talk to him. 'What would you like to become one day?' I enquired upon which this child, with no seeming future from a rural informal settlement replied, 'an Auditor, sir'. Surprised by his knowledge I questioned his reasoning to which I found: 'I promised myself that my children would not grow up like I do'. It broke my heart. I realised that all this child needs is a shot at life. This is what "Give me a Chance" does. Finding children with courage, against the odds and giving them an opportunity to make it." Kylemore Community Kylemore community was chosen as the beneficiary as it is the poorest rural community and would therefore ensure biggest bang for buck. Research and experience confirmed that financial support towards rural areas are comfortably overlooked with support in relation to the city township programs, although the standard of living in these forgotten poverty stricken rural areas far exceed its counterparts of the cities. In addition donor recognition is measured in amount of people reached per Rand sponsored. This very fact is responsible for many charities unfortunately not having much effect. Individual Scholarships Originally, 'Give Me a Chance' was created as a scholarship fund which would adopt promising students from the Kylemore community and provide financial, moral and extramural support to help them achieve their goals. Learners were selected, based on their academic and sporting abilities, as well as their attitude towards life and aspirations for the future. Kylemore Secondary School As the foundation developed through the years, a relationship of mutual trust and understanding developed between "Give me a Chance" and Kylemore Secondary school. The teachers and especially the principle, Mr. de Vries became dear friends of the 'Give me a Chance' team. Through regular interaction and in depth conversations, we came to the realisation that the school's educational standard is not in line with the other schools in Stellenbosch - leaving even the highest performing students with a step behind their equals from other schools. In the end, the foundation dedicated itself to make a more global difference by seeing to the educational needs of Kylemore Secondary School. The Broader Stellenbosch Community Being participation citizens of the broader Stellenbosch community, we encountered many people outside the Kylemore community who was really struggling financially, but had nowhere to go for help. The success of the Children's Foundation has since developed into a broader Stellenbosch community upliftment programme. "Give me a Chance" has also adopted children from Stellenbosch Primary and Secondary School. With "Give me a chance" more money and considerable time is required to reach an individual but that investment works directly towards unlocking potential of a promising child. Not only do the learners receive the necessary support to achieve on academic and sport levels, but they also have the chance to fulfil previously unreachable dreams. Funds raised through 'Give Me a Chance' go to the provision of school and hostel fees, school clothing, books, stationary, sport equipment and a token amount for pocket money. VisionThe ultimate mission of the 'Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation is to create a new generation of socially responsible and contributing members of the South African society. MissionThe Foundation wants to give promising children an opportunity in life that has proven their courage way above the challenges of poverty and have demonstrated some form of achievement against all odds. 'Give Me a Chance' beliefs that children, when given the opportunity, have the ability to help themselves to succeed with the right support structures, extricating them from their perilous and hopeless alternative outcomes. We believe life is about people and therefore we do not invest into bricks and mortar or well-to-do actions with a shot gun approach, no; we invest directly into a promising human beings life, striving with hope against all the odds of becoming financially self reliant and contributing towards life and understanding and sensitive towards the environment. The beneficiaries are encouraged to rework their benefit once commercially active back into their respective. At Kylemore secondary school a great opportunity exists with our objective of creating a curriculum which would bring underperforming schools' scholastic performance in line with prominent schools. This process is still in progress and holds in it enormous potential to positively influence the community. ObjectivesComprehensive support for individual candidates In the capacity of its vision, the 'Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation is committed to ensuring that each of its adopted children:
Contributions to the Foundation funds a student's school fees. School fees include the following:
Comprehensive support for Kylemore Secondary School 
"Give me a Chance" together with Mr. de Vries, principle of Kylemore Secondary School, identified a need in the educational opportunities for the children of the school. This is mainly because of a lack of financial support from the community and government. "Give me a Chance" Children's Foundation sees the need to assist in the school's needs:
Financial Objectives
Student Selection Process:To ensure that students selected are suitable representatives of the Foundation's objectives. The trust has a multi-phase interview process in order to identify appropriate candidates. The interview process is as follows:
Basis for School Referral: Initial identification of candidates takes place by referral of the school's administration. 'Give Me a Chance' holds an initial meeting with the various schools' principals whereby a list of students is recommended based on the following criteria:
Student Interviews: After reviewing each student's records the list is cut and interviews are then arranged with the candidates for the second phase of the selections process. Potential students are interviewed with particular emphasis is placed on the following criteria:
Parent Interviews: It is very important that in addition to interviewing candidates thoroughly, we also take the initiative to interview each student's parents. The ultimate goal of this phase is to ensure that the values we instil in our beneficiaries are upheld in their home life. It is important to note that while academic excellence is the initial identifying factor for selection, a majority of the students are selected on the basis of their overall excellence of character. 
Campaign for Social Responsibility:
To support its objective of creating a new generation of social responsible youth, the 'Give me a Chance' Children's Foundation has created a campaign for social responsibility. We are the only non-profit organization to our knowledge which requires our beneficiaries to give back to their communities. Nothing is for free in our program. Through this program, sponsored students will be obligated to partake in workshops which build leadership skills and life skills and relate those to pressing social issues prevalent in South African society. For instance, one workshop may highlight respect in relation to rape and gender equality. We furthermore, require our students to partake in regular volunteer outings, whereby students donate their time to positively affect the lives of others. A partnership has been formed with Habitat for Humanity and Pebbles Project in support of this initiative. The objective is to ensure our students understand that it does not take money to do good; it simply takes the will and the time. Finally, our students are tasked with identifying a need within their community and putting forth a proposal to address that need. The end result is a community based project driven by the 'Give Me a Chance' children to uplift their own community. Beneficiary Project Summary: The 'Give Me a Chance' Community Project Committee proposes a community upliftment project which aims to provide necessary goods to those less fortunate within their local community. The Committee will work together as a whole to identify an existing organization within the Stellenbosch region which could potentially serve as the recipient of Committee donation. Upon identifying the recipient organization, the Committee will obtain written verification from the recipient organization stating what supplies are needed and the quantity necessary. Potential Recipient Organizations
To raise funds in support of this initiative, the 'Give Me a Chance' Community Project Committee proposes a bottle drive to be hosted at various key locations throughout the Stellenbosch region. Bottles will be collected over a month period after which they will be cashed in to raise the necessary funds which will support their initiative. Upon receipt of necessary funding, the Committee will purchase all goods necessary for donation. Relevant media outlets will be contacted prior to the donation ceremony to ensure that the project receives appropriate coverage. N.B. All direction and decision making for this project will be managed by the Committee. 'Give Me a Chance' will provide logistical assistance where needed but will be absent from any decision making in this process. Alluvia Specialist Winery and Private Residence Club and the 'Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation, Partnering to Make a Difference
In support of the 'Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation and its initiatives, Alluvia Specialist Winery created the 'Give Me a Chance' label, a low cost but high quality wine to further drive the momentum of the organization. Dedicated profit of the 'Give Me a Chance' range goes to benefit the organization and help drives its initiatives. The financial commitment of Alluvia to the organization is instrumental in assisting 'Give Me a Chance' in expanding its capacity and in turn increasing its scope of influence. It is important to note, however, that the relationship between the 'Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation and Alluvia Specialist Winery goes beyond that of financial support. Delarey Brugman sits on the Board of Trustees and it is him and his wife Sandie's personal devotion to the organization which helps 'Give Me a Chance' to grow. Board of Trustees:Delarey Brugman, entrepreneur and founder of Alluvia Specialist Winery and Private Residence Club, sit as Chairman on the Board of Trustees for 'Give Me a Chance'. The other Pro Bono Trustees are:
Lee-Ann Stoffberg and Sandie Brugman: responsible for administration, fundraising events and PR actions. BKR Logista in Stellenbosch is the Pro Bono Auditors. Ambassadors:
Click here for Photos and more information about our Ambassadors Ways to Support the "Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation" financially:
Ways to Support the "Give Me a Chance' Children's Foundation" by giving your time/hands:
If you are interested in supporting "Give me a Chance" in any of the above mentioned ways, please contact Lee-Anne Stoffberg: Banking DetailsGive Me A Chance |
NPO: 2009/010946/08
