The Butterfly Centre Supporters Update July 2021

Dear Beloved Supporters of The Butterfly Centre,

Before you read all our news below, please note the following...The Butterfly Centre still relies largely on fundraising at this point. Current funds available are designated for completing Phase 2 of the project. In our community many of the children who most need our help are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Parents are all making their best efforts, but there are quite a number who are behind on fees, and struggle to keep up. This makes it difficult to cover our running costs, but we are unable to turn children away. Please consider becoming a friend of the Butterfly Centre by replying to this mail with your email address and thus committing to a monthly donation of R100, or make a once off donation now.

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Thank you for your support and belief in this project and the families to whom it means so much. May you be richly blessed in return. So much love Jami x

Oh, what a joy to be able to open the Butterfly Centre once again! The beaming smiles of the children as they greet their friends and teachers, their laughter as they run out to play. But the most beautiful thing is witnessing their unbridled enthusiasm as they sit down to do their work, their young minds have clearly been missing the challenges as well as the satisfaction as they each continue to reach their own personal full potential.

During the course of the year two of our students have been successfully reintroduced to the mainstream educational environment, which is truly a feather in the cap of a Centre such as ours and is testament to the great work being done by our teachers. Thank you for all the hard work and the love you have for our students’ teachers Sindy, Ros and Robyn. New students quickly found their way to us, so we welcome Morne, Neevan and Jude to our happy little tribe.

Our oldest student, and also the most longstanding pupil (along with Jack) has recently turned seventeen. Jay Jay, with the enthusiastic blessing of his family, has now started shifting focus and putting more time into developing skills which will help him to become independent. He is now shadowing Rico, tractor mechanic and all around incredible fixer-of-machines, 2 days a week at Stanford Hills. Jay Jay has a real natural affinity for machines, and has loved learning from Rico just as much as Rico is enjoying sharing his skills. They have been servicing and maintaining vehicles, and MOST EXCITINGLY Jay Jay is learning to drive a tractor. This has officially made him a hero in the eyes of the other children at the Butterfly Centre, and once again inspired us all to believe that you can do whatever you put your mind to.

The children continue with their vegetable planting, harvesting and cooking. We had Lorraine donate lemon and pear trees which the kids enthusiastically planted themselves. We look forward to having our own fruit in future, to go with the eggs we collect from our chickens daily.

Mrs Fussel donated a gorgeous, crocheted blanket for our raffle, and the children’s thank you notes really put smiles on our faces. Especially James, who apparently would like to buy a cow so we can have our own milk supply, and Nhandla, who would like to purchase a washing machine because he wants to work in a laundry one day. I have no doubt that we can make all these children’s dreams come true!

Our Round the World fundraiser was a great success, enjoyed by all who attended and also our Butterfly Children who manned a couple of the stands. The aprons which were made by Chloe W’s mom as part of her birthday celebration certainly came in handy. We have 2 Chloe’s at the Centre now, so we call them Chloe K and Chloe W! The 10 tables and ingredients were sponsored by generous friends, so the full ticket sales of R15 000 were directly for the Butterfly Centre.

The Butterfly Centre once again arranged the bar for the 2021 Lighthouse2Lighthouse walk, and made a profit of R4055. Not as much as the previous year, but number of walkers was limited this year. We are happy to continue working together in the future for this wonderful event.

Jack and Lohan had a combined birthday party at the Tasting Room, and I have never seen a jumping castle so full of joyful laughing faces.

In the most exciting news of all, we are finally ready to proceed with Phase 2 of the building. The 50% deposit was paid last week, materials are being purchased and actual work will commence on 10th August. The building should take 6-8 weeks to complete, and we will send updates as we progress. Here there will be space to really work on skills such as sewing, cooking and baking, have indoor exercise equipment and bring new opportunities for growth on many levels. Thank you to Lighthouse2Lighthouse, whose fundraising efforts in 2020 not only afforded the completion of Phase 1, but also most of the funding for Phase 2. You are all amazing women and will remain part of the Butterfly Centre’s life and journey forever. Thanks also to the Nussbaum foundation for their vital role in making this happen. We are so excited for this next phase!

Thank you as always to each of you who have helped us in so many ways to get to where we are today, and allowing us to keep reaching for the dream. We have come a long way, and we are excited to see just how many people this important project can reach and help in the future.

We could never do it without you. Onwards and upwards, Butterfly Centre!

Blessings and love to each of you,

With so much love

Jami, the staff and children at the Butterfly Centre

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SOME THANK YOUS FOR RECENT MONTHS, APOLOGIES TO ANYONE I FORGOT!!

Thanks to our committee for all the hard work and behind the scenes meetings and decision making!

Andrew Herriot, Stephanie Richards, Debbie Taverner Smith, Natalie Snyman, Peter Kastner, Adel Field, Cathryn Herriot.

Special thanks to Patrick Campbell, ex officio member who has been handling financial responsibilities.

Welcome Samantha who will be taking over from Jacqui as official bookkeeper.

Thanks to our regular contributors who help us do what we do...you know who you are!

Grootbos Foundation for continued support with physical training, as well as help in the vegetable garden.

The walkers and horse riders who make use of the trails at Stanford Hills for their generous donations.

The Herriots and their movie club for their regular contributions.

African Horse company for riding lessons for the children.

Grootbos Football Foundation for their swimming and sports coaching volunteers.

Helene Andersson for her continued support and teaching materials.

Rod Ackerman for advising us on becoming POPI compliant and ensuring privacy of donors and students.

The stall holders for our Round the World foundation:

 • Vanessa and David Tedder

 • Sam and Adel Field

 • Peter and Mariana Esterhuizen

 • Carol Yeats and Chanel

 • Mienie from Made in Stanford

 • Kleinriver cheese

 • Natalie and Kevin Husk

Stanford Hills sponsored 3 of the tables this year, hopefully for next year we will find some other foodies keen to show off their skills and do some good at the same time...get in touch if you would be interested in hosting a table!

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