For the Jabez Foundation, it’s the little ones that matter. For eighteen years, this dedicated team has served 20 creches in some of Cape Town’s most vulnerable areas by providing food, educational toys, and support to the families. You can find their footprint in communities such as Elsies River, Uitsig, Ravensmead, West Bank, Malibu to name a few.
Jo-Anne Jenneker
The team behind the Jabez Foundation is lead by Jo-Anne Jenneker, Managing Director and a humanitarian at heart. A graduate of UWC, she worked in the travel and tourism industry for seventeen years, during which she headed up many corporate social initiatives. Behind Jo-Anne's passion for Early Childhood Development is a love for nurturing children and the development of the communities they work in. This passion and her desire to care for those members of society who need it most encouraged her to establish the foundation.
Colleen Aspeling
Colleen Aspeling handles all the Foundation’s financial needs in her role as Finance Director. It is in this role that she uses her gifts of serving and generosity, both of which enthuse her to uplift those in need She has over twenty years of experience in finance and currently heads the Finance Department at the Fair Cape Group of Companies.
Anthea Michaels
Anthea Michaels serves as the Governance Director for the Foundation and is an advocate by profession. She is employed as a Senior Manager at the Western Cape Provincial Government, a position she has held for the past twenty-four years. Additionally, she is an advisor to the Department of Community Safety, has been appointed as Chairperson for the Defence Reserves Council for the Western Cape Province and is a board member for Rainbow of Hope, a home for abused and abandoned children based in Goodwood. Anthea's involvement in community safety and development is a reflection of her ambition to build a society that flourishes.
The foundation of the meaningful work they do is the three main projects through which they aim to implement change in the lives of the children they work with:
Food parcels
In an effort to fill the tummies of children whose household might not be able to provide a meal after a long day at school, the foundation partners with local food suppliers to put together and distribute food parcels. These parcels contain different numbers of food items and can be purchased by donors, who can select which beneficiary they would like to donate the food parcel to. Purchases can vary from a single smaller parcel to bulk orders, which has enabled this project to truly thrive.
Fund-a-learner
The aim of this project is to help children whose circumstances don't allow them to attend a crèche get the benefit of an early childhood education and help further their development. This program allows donors to finance a child's crèche fees, ensuring the child is given a solid educational foundation, setting them up for a bright future ahead. They have built a database of crèche profiles, each with various pricing structures per month, which allow donors to decide how they would like to support and fund the cost of a learner’s education for an agreed period of time.
Internship
While the foundation’s launch had them focused on the youngest children in their community, the team have since developed aspirations to support them throughout each phase of their education and development.
Throughout their initial Research & Development phase, an exciting opportunity arose for them to assist aspiring educators with internship opportunities by partnering with Northlink College, affording their Early Childhood Development (ECD) phase students the opportunity to gain practical training at the various ECD centres on their database.
I would highly encourage everyone to look into, and possibly donate to, this more than worthy cause. As one of Jo-Anne’s favourite quotes from Mother Teresa reads: “If you can’t feed 100 children, fee just one.”