Christel House South Africa is proud to announce our partnership with The Philanthropy Initiative with Employees of Allan Gray (“the Philanthropy Initiative”) to help serve and educate our more than 1000 students from the Cape Flats. The Philanthropy Initiative was established in 2019 as one of the philanthropic activities within the Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy. The mechanics of the Philanthropy Initiative provide Allan Gray employees with the opportunity to identify charities within their local communities as possible candidates to receive financial grants.
Christel House was first identified as a potential candidate for the Philanthropy Initiative by Roncher Rowles, an Offshore Specialist at Allan Gray Proprietary Limited. Rowles stated that she had heard of Christel House’s work before, but it was not until after meeting Dr Ronald Fortune, Christel House’s High School Principal, that she knew she would like to nominate Christel House to the Philanthropy Initiative . “When I heard Ronald’s passion for his students it was so contagious that it ignited a desire in me to not only nominate Christel House but also showed me that there is a hope for better education outcomes in our country.”
Anthony Farr, Director at the Philanthropy Initiative, highlighted that the Philanthropy Initiative allows Allan Gray employees to participate in philanthropy and share in distributing and deploying some of the benefits that flow from their hard work. He noted, “Allan Gray employees know their own communities better than others and the Philanthropy Initiative seeks to leverage this insight into real impact in areas of need.“
Christel House’s Chief Executive Officer, Adri Marais, said that the Philanthropy Initiative’s partnership could not have come at a better time given the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. She added, ”In the midst of so many uncertainties in the world today, we are tremendously grateful to have the Philanthropy Initiative’s support. Their partnership not only brings enormous stability to the organisation but also allows us to continue to best serve our students and help to transform their lives – no matter the societal circumstances we find ourselves in.”