JMPD women officers lend helping hand

18 August 2015

 

Several women members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spent Monday August 17 lending a helping hand at Siyabonga Dorah’s Ark, a Roodepoort charitable organisation – cleaning its premises and handing out food parcels – as part of their contribution to National Women’s Month.

 

The initiative formed part of a month-long campaign called “Stretching out a Helping Hand” launched on August 3.

JMPD Officer Ouma Morudi said the campaign would run until August 27.

 

Concerned city resident Dorah Mazibuko founded Siyabonga Dorah’s Ark in 1996 after witnessing homeless people feeding off dustbins in the Roodepoort CBD. The feeding scheme started operating from the parking lot of a leading supermarket chain but later moved to a permanent home after the City donated the old library building to Mazibuko in support of her efforts. Siyabonga Dorah’s Ark provides homeless and vulnerable people, especially children living on the streets, with a hot meal on a daily basis.

 

On Monday about 40 JMPD women officers helped to clean up the centre and surrounds and donated food parcels, blankets and paint.

 

“We’ve decided to come back before the conclusion of this project on August 27 to help paint the building because we feel this is such a worthy project they are running here,” said Morudi.

 

She said Region C, under which Roodepoort falls, had identified other projects in 17 wards that were in need of “a bit of extra care and attention” under the “Stretching out a Helping Hand” campaign.

 

She added that the region would also hand out about 250 food parcels at the nearby Albertina Sisulu informal settlement.

 

“Members of the Community Outreach Department in Region C as well as of the Public Safety Department, including the JMPD Speed and Licensing Unit, have been lending a helping hand almost every day this month and will continue to do so until the programme is wrapped up on August 27,” Morudi said.