Mitchells Plain entertainer Deen Louw, aka D’Louw, is kicking off the school year with his Back2School Programme, in partnership with the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit’s Candice van der Rheede.
Together, the two have identified 30 schools in need of stationery.
Deen visited Imperial Primary School in Mitchells Plain on Tuesday, where he gifted 50 grateful pupils with a pencil bag filled with a pen, pencil, sharpener, ruler and eraser.
Deen told the kids to repeat the words: “This pen holds the power to change my destiny.”
He says Imperial Primary was not on his list of 30 schools, but a teacher contacted him with an appeal.
Deen said: “Based on their background and the kids that received soup daily, the ones that were identified, a teacher reached out to me asking if I would consider their school as well.”
Principal CJ Barron thanks Deen for his contribution: “We have a much greater need for stationery at this school, we feed up to 700 kids daily and we are grateful for the assistance you have given.”
Other schools which have already received their stationery packs include Portlands High, as well as Alpine, Aloe, West End and Springdale primary. Schools in Delft, Wesbank and Hanover Park also benefited.
Candice says making sure children have the basic needs in their homes and at school helps keep them out of the clutches of predators.
“Ninety percent of the time, perpetrators offer kids things to get them away, kidnap, hijack or abuse them.
“We don't want our children to have to ask others for help with stationery as this might put them at risk of being enticed and lured away by perps.”
venecia.america@inl.co.za