THANKS to fundraising efforts by local Samaritan, Zin Dupplis, Hazel Booysen, the founder of the Hankey homework centre, Tutor Spot, can assist her community with weekly meals through her newly established soup kitchen. As previously reported, in 2019, Booysen began helping children in Hankey with their homework and school projects in an informal structure in her backyard.
She then established Tutor Spot, a homework centre for school children to help learners between the ages of six and 13 each day after school.
Since then, Booysen has continued to assist the children from Hankey and surrounding areas when needed and has also hosted multiple holiday programmes.
“Tutor Spot is doing well at the moment, and we continue to assist as many children as we can at schools and daycares in the community,” said Booysen.
She said that she is thankful that through her organisation, she has been able to make a positive impact.
Passionate about her community, she said she could not turn a blind eye to the desperate need for food among the underprivileged.
To help, Booysen said that for the last year, through the Tutor Spot organisation, she has continued to offer meals to children and adults in need every Friday evening. Depending on how many donations they receive, she said they feed between 50 and 70 people each Friday.
“We are dependent on donations, and in some instances, we receive a good amount of donations, while on other days, we don’t receive much, which affects how many meals we can hand out. In some cases, we don’t receive much and cannot serve people when this happens,” said Booysen.
Fortunately, Dupplis, who is an employee at Relay Emergency Medical Services, arranged a fundraising drive and managed to get the Kouga Municipality on board to donate much-needed rice, flour, sugar, and oil.
The handover ceremony took place on November 29, marking a significant milestone, with Executive Mayor Hattingh Bornman in attendance.
The event had a festive atmosphere, thanks to the participation of the local brigade and lively music courtesy of Score Energy Drink.
“With the donation, we can make delicious food for so many more people. It is also great that the financial pressure does not have to rest so heavily on the organisation,” said Booysen.
Looking ahead to 2025, she said they are looking forward to constructing a building after securing a plot earlier this year. Booysen mentioned that the new building will be used by Tutor Spot to continue offering homework assistance and handing out meals to those in need.
