SUNCOAST - Caring for it's Community

Last year women in the Chesterville community in Durban were encouraged to take part in a Breast Cancer Awareness Initiative, organized by SUNCOAST.

SUNCOAST arranged for the staff members from the Pietermaritzburg branch of CANSA to bring their services, equipment and mobile clinic to the Chesterville Community Clinic, to aid and assist resident health workers in screening approximately 50 women for breast cancer. Pap smears were also carried out to test for cervical cancer.

SUNCOAST also supports Vukukhanye's Educare Centre, also based in Chesterville, which gives parents in Chesterville access to a safe and affordable ECD program for their children. Vukukhanye takes care of the overall operation of the centre by providing quality preschool education and care to 60 children in three age groups, with five well trained staff members. The centre also provides breakfast, a healthy mid-morning snack and a cooked lunch daily for the children.

In addition to the support given to the Educare Centre, Suncoast and Vukukhanye launched a school bursary programme that support 18 students ranging from Grade 1 to tertiary studies.One ofthe bursary recipients is Thobeka Fortunate Radebe. Thobeka is 25 years old and she comes from Chesterville where she lives with her mother and her 9-year-old son. Thobeka has a lot to celebrate; she recently completed her 2-year nursing diploma and is now permanently employed at St Augustine's Hospital. SUNCOAST and Vukukhanye changed Thobeka's life, speaking to The Bugle Thobeka said,

"SUNCOAST did not give up on me, on my dreams and on my goals as an individual female, coming from a disadvantage community."

"Vukukhanye andSUNCOAST allowed me to become this independent woman, who I've always wanted to be. I'm so grateful, honoured and blessed to be part of the SUNCOAST family. As we speak I am a breadwinner for my family. I wish to further with my studies and become a registered nurse and have a specialty. After my hard upbringing, this is a blessing from God. Everything is possible because I am goal driven, ambitious and most of all I am not scared anymore about my future. Education is key to everything, they can take everything away from me but not my knowledge and education."

SUNCOAST's Corporate Social Investment (CSI) team, made up of staff members who volunteer their time each month to various projects, paid a visit to the Ridgeview Transit CampinNovember to distribute food parcels for the residents.

Child-headed households, the elderly and residents living with disabilities were identified as most in need of assistance by Nhloswenhle Projects and Vukukhanye, a non-profit and public benefit organization in the area, and SUNCOAST's main CSI beneficiary through funding and other assistance.

Various departments at SUNCOAST challenged each other in a food-collection drive, collecting non-perishable items for the food parcels. The Surveillance Department came out on top with the most goods collected for the project.

A total of 30 food parcels were donated each containing maize meal, samp, baked beans, pilchards, rice, noodles, juice, tea, coffee, powdered milk, sugar beans, peanut butter, soup and oil.

Pensioner Clara Xaba, who struggles to care of her six grandchildren on her pension, says, "I am extremely grateful for the kind donation. It will be such a big help. I have only recently moved to the transit camp and times are so hard that I often don't know where our next meal will come from as I have so many mouths to feed."

Another grateful recipient was father-of-four, Bongani Sikweqe, who has been living at Ridgeview Transit Camp since 2007 and is currently unemployed.

SUNCOAST is not just about gamer-tainment and palm-lined beaches, it's also about community support and caring for people.

For more information on other SUNCOASTCSI activitiesvisitwww.suncoastcasino.co.za.