Together We Make a Difference

Dear Stefan & Burk Stiftung,
It is with great appreciation that we thank you for your generous contribution to Options! Your gift has again made a huge difference for us.

Here is some feedback how we’ve spent the euros:

FOOD PARCELS
In May and June we were able to purchase and give 27 food parcels for our clients who are the most vulnerable in terms of lack of food security. These clients are extremely grateful when they receive a food parcel and we especially focus on pregnant or HIV+ clients.

AMACICI JEWELLERY
Two young women from our Learn to Earn project have joined the group who make Jewellery to create income. They are learning quickly under the leadership of Sandra who is leading the project. She has some lovely new ideas. We are able to sell our items at markets and sometimes visitors to Options purchase the Jewellery.

THE CARD WORKSHOP
The cardies have been working hard on making the two building cards to be sent to Germany!
And they are so proud of themselves that they’ve been able to make them successfully. We are grateful for your assistance with transportation and with paying for the brown card. The 7 women earned R9 990 in May and R18 125 in June!

PREGNANCY COUNSELLING
We usually do not give transportation money to every prenant girl or woman who come to Options. Some are more vulnerable because they are either young or they are far along in their pregnancy. We recently supported a pregnant 12 year old and her mom for some of their sessions with Vuvu.

SHINE
Our Shine group had a very fun Mothers Day party! We decorated the hall and bought special food and a gift for each young mom. One of the young moms said that she had never received a gift before so this was very special. In May, 19 young women attended the group sessions and in June, 24 attended.

SUPPORT GROUP
The Support Group for HIV+ people continued to meet weekly and your contribution helped them with transportation and food. In May there were 11 attending and 13 attending in June. Here are Thando and Lusanda who help lead the group.

GENERAL
We used your contribution for many running costs. These include security for our buildings, petrol for the car, Xerox for photocopies, updating our fire equipment, paying for internet, money for staff salaries, purchasing electrity and paying Leck (our gardener) for gardening services.

A highlight for us this year was your visit to Options in February and we appreciated the special time we had with the four of you!
Much love,
Laurie and everyone at Options.

Dear Stefan & Burk Stiftung,
First of all, thank you so much for the days you, Petra, Frank and Jutta spent visiting Options!
We are so happy that we could see you and we thank you for the special gifts you brought but most of all for your time with us.
We are thankful for the gift of R56 337.63 towards our running costs. The attached reconciliation gives us the specific figures for how we have spent your gift.

CLIENT CARE
The food parcels purchased were given to our neediest clients in January and February. This is essential for helping those who are vulnerable and don’t have enough food.

AMACICI
We purchased beads for the jewellery project and also printed packaging material. Our project leader has resigned but we are continuing the project with the help of another volunteer and the plan is to add new clients soon.

CARDS
We are very blessed for the card purchases you all made while visiting and you were a special encouragement to the “cardies”!
Your contribution has helped us give the women taxi money to come to Options. We plan to equip the ladies through Learn to Earn Workshop and Coaching so we can help them learn new skills

PREGNANCY COUNSELLING
Our crisis pregnancy clients are vulnerable and being able to see their counsellor and do pre-natal classes helps them prepare for their babies. This taxi money also assists those who are in late pregnancy who are picking up their parcel of baby clothes and toiletries.

SHINE
How fun it was for you to pack soya/rice with the Shine Group of young moms and their babies! Thank you for assisting with their food and transport money in February.
Their support group (“Shine”) means a lot to them!

YOUTH CARE
The Youth Group that meets on Friday afternoon at Kidstop is an exciting part of Options as we build relationships with teenagers in the youth club. Thank you for making a difference!

OTHER
The running costs are essential for Options!
Staff salaries makes up nearly 50% of our budget and your donation assisted us both in January and February. All of our ministry depends on the staff!
The Hexabyte (internet service), George Municipality, South Cape Security, Xerox (photo copy machine), XConnect, and the plumber all were expenses that help our office run smoothly.

We also printed business card, posters and flyers to assist us in marketing and we have a marketing outreach monthly that helps us market our services. Thank you for enabling us to reprint our materials!
The fuel purchased for our car helps the staff make trips to the hospital for clients, to Kidstop for the Youth Group and for School Workshop.
Finally we used your contribution to enable Jeanette and Nicolene to go to a First Aid Course which is required by law for our office. Both of them passed the course and we have already had to use Nicolene’s help with a young mom who had a distressed reaction to food she was eating and needed to get to the hospital.

We appreciate your support very much!
With love from
Laurie & the Options Team

Besuch bei Options Care Center in Südafrika

Gemeinsam Hoffnung und Zukunft ermöglichen

Im Rahmen unserer Südafrika-Reise haben wir erneut das Options Care Center in George besucht – eine Einrichtung, die wir als Stiftung seit über 20 Jahren begleiten und unterstützen. Für uns ist dieser Ort zu einem wichtigen Teil unserer Stiftungsarbeit geworden, und jeder Besuch zeigt uns aufs Neue, wie viel hier bewirkt wird.

Ein sicherer Ort für junge Menschen in Krisen
Monatlich wenden sich rund 70 junge Menschen an das Options Care Center. Viele von ihnen befinden sich in schwierigen Lebenssituationen: ungeplante Schwangerschaften, Schulabbrüche, familiäre Probleme oder fehlende Perspektiven prägen ihren Alltag.
Was wir hier erleben, beeindruckt uns sehr: Ein engagiertes Team aus 13 Mitarbeitenden und rund 30 ehrenamtlichen Helferinnen und Helfern begegnet jedem Einzelnen mit Offenheit, Respekt und echter Anteilnahme. Oft ist der erste und wichtigste Schritt, zuzuhören und Vertrauen aufzubauen.

Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe – neue Perspektiven schaffen
Besonders wichtig ist uns der nachhaltige Ansatz der Einrichtung. Teenagermütter werden dabei unterstützt, ihre Schulbildung fortzusetzen. Schulabbrecher erhalten individuelle Förderung und Hilfe bei der beruflichen Orientierung. Trainings stärken Selbstvertrauen und soziale Kompetenzen. Ein beeindruckendes Beispiel ist das Programm „Learn to Earn“. Hier erwerben die Teilnehmenden praktische Fähigkeiten und verdienen erstmals eigenes Geld. Die Frauengruppe der „Cardies“ gestaltet beispielsweise in sorgfältiger Handarbeit wunderschöne Grußkarten, die verkauft werden. Zu sehen, mit welchem Stolz und welcher Freude die Frauen ihre eigenen Einkünfte erzielen, hat uns tief bewegt.
Während unseres Besuchs durften wir auch selbst mithelfen, Lebensmittelpakete für Bedürftige zu packen. Dabei entstanden viele persönliche Begegnungen, die uns lange in Erinnerung bleiben werden.

Mentoren geben Halt und Orientierung
Ein weiterer wichtiger Schwerpunkt ist die Arbeit mit jungen Männern. In Gesprächen mit erfahrenen Mentoren erhalten sie Unterstützung, Orientierung und Ermutigung. Viele von ihnen sind ohne Vater aufgewachsen und erleben hier erstmals verlässliche Begleitung.
Für uns war es sehr beeindruckend zu sehen, wie offen und vertrauensvoll diese Gespräche geführt werden und wie viel positive Veränderung dadurch möglich wird.

Hoffnung für Kinder im Township
Ein besonders bewegender Moment war unser Besuch im „Kids-Stop“, einer Partnereinrichtung im Township. Hier finden täglich bis zu 120 Kinder eine warme Mahlzeit, Unterstützung beim Lernen und vor allem einen sicheren Ort. Trotz einfachster Bedingungen erleben wir hier eine Atmosphäre voller Engagement, Fürsorge und Hoffnung.

Dankbarkeit und Verantwortung
Unsere langjährige Verbindung zum Options Care Center ist für uns weit mehr als eine Förderung – sie ist eine Partnerschaft, die von Vertrauen, gemeinsamen Werten und persönlicher Verbundenheit geprägt ist.

Dieser Besuch hat uns erneut gezeigt, wie wichtig unsere Unterstützung ist und wie viel sie bewirken kann. Wir sind dankbar, Teil dieser Arbeit zu sein, und werden uns auch weiterhin mit voller Überzeugung dafür einsetzen, jungen Menschen in Südafrika neue Perspektiven und Hoffnung für ihre Zukunft zu ermöglichen.

Grateful for 2025 – Looking Ahead to 2026

Dear Stefan, Burk Stiftung and friends,

Hallo for 2026! We are so thankful for your partnership with us during 2025 and want to acknowledge your gift of R58 680.60 on the 5th of November. It really made a difference and we thank you for your generosity! Here is a summary of how you have helped us:

Food parcels are a tremendous encouragement and every month we give them to our neediest clients who are vulnerable, either because of a pregnancy and not having income or because of health issues from being HIV+ and also not having sufficient income. What a difference these food parcels made!
Your support helped buy supplies for the card workshop, and taxi and food costs for our pregnant clients and for the support groups.

“Shine”, the “Youth Group” and the “Support Group” all benefitted. We saw lots of growth in the group members as they attended workshops and had lots of discussions leading to positive decisions and experienced community. The feedback at the end of 2025 was very positive and we see the great value support groups have for our clients!

We have spent quite a bit of your contribution on the practical running costs of Options. Salaries, fuel for the car, security cost, municipal costs, stationary, photocopies, internet (Hexabyte), electricity and our hand towels/Sanitary bin are all important to the smooth running of Options and we are very thankful to you for your generosity. With our added new buildings costs have increased and your support strengthens us.

We look forward to seeing you soon (Stefan, Petra, Frank and Julta)!
What a joy it will be to have you visit us in George.

May 2026 be a wonderful year
Love from
Laurie & the Options Team