Children suffer most in winter

The time of year when your compassion and generosity is needed most urgently is very close – winter!

Usually it’s homeless people who are in the greatest need, coming to our centres for the possibility of a blanket and a mug of hot nourishing soup.

But there’s been a dramatic change!

More and more it’s now ordinary South Africans suffering real poverty who are coming to our door.

Some of these are individuals who are elderly and alone, people with chronic illness, others living on grants that don’t sustain life.

Then there are whole families in desperate need. In some cases the breadwinner has lost his or her job.

But even those who are working are losing the battle to get by.

These families may not be homeless, but they’re too poor to afford the basic essentials of life.

Children especially are suffering. No
child should be reduced to standing in
a Salvation Army Centre food queue.

They’re also missing out on education
because parents can’t pay the school
fees or buy the required uniforms.

When the bitter cold of winter sets in, it makes the many hardships even worse.

The only hope that people can rely on is
the possibility of getting a blanket, a
mug of hot soup, and perhaps an item of
warm clothing from our Salvation Army
centres around the country.

And to give that relief, our only hope is that caring compassionate supporters like you will send a Winter Warmth donation – by clicking here – towards making that help possible for men, women and especially children in critical need.

Becoming homeless or finding yourself reduced to critical poverty can happen to anybody.

Those of us who live in a comfortable home can hardly imagine having no shelter; or

the heartache and despair of not being able to provide for our family.

We also can’t imagine the kind of
hunger that would drive us to
scrounge through rubbish bins for
scraps of food, or the last drops
in a cold drink can or coffee mug.

The material losses of poverty are one thing. But a harder loss is what isn’t always visible – the loss of human dignity, and the accompanying sense of shame.

Helping people in need has been at the heart of The Salvation Army’s mission since our earliest days in the late 19th century.

And it’s thanks to caring friends like you, that The Salvation Army is the one place where nobody is ever turned away, is treated with respect, and given a helping hand.

Crushing unemployment and ever rising
costs of living are pushing more and
more people into dire situations, which
makes your online donation made by
clicking here towards some Winter
Warmth this year more important than ever.

And may you be blessed for your compassion and your open hearted generosity, in helping individuals and families who will owe their survival this winter to your kindness.

Winter is a time when your compassion and generosity is needed more urgently than ever! Your donation – made online right now – will mean children, women and men most desperately in need will have the comfort of knowing they can look forward to your gift of a nourishing meal and warm blanket.