Montecasino Touching Lives

Montecasino is committed to making an ongoing difference in the lives of those less fortunate, and have established a Corporate Social Investment Committee, to contribute towards improving lives.

Our strategic Corporate Social Investment strategy ensures that we don't just donate money to charities but that we actually touch people's lives in a real and meaningful way. We've taken a more personalised approach to making a real difference in the lives of the communities in which we operate.

While we continue to maintain relationships with various charities and organizations we have been involved with over the years, our main focus is on the following organizations:

• Banakekeleni AIDS Haven
• New Life Centre – Hillbrow
• Witkoppen Health & Welfare Centre's Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project
• SA Guide Dogs Association
• HOG K.I.D.S Run – Annual Fundraiser
• Women & Men Against Child Abuse

Banakekeleni AIDS Haven

Banakekeleni Aids Haven was established by Rose Kubayi, a former school teacher. Rose gave up her teaching profession when she saw the need to assist persons with Aids and HIV infection in the community of Alexandra. The haven officially opened in September 2003.

Rose acquired the use of an old warehouse, had it cleared and registered with the department of social services and set about preparing it for the use of HIV / AIDS infected persons. Today the haven is sanctuary to over 50 children and relies almost entirely on donations. Patients are also referred to the haven from local clinics to administer their anti-retroviral drugs.

This home has been chosen as it has been supported by Montecasino and Montecasino employees. Montecasino staff have previously arranged and funded Christmas parties for the children including collecting gifts, and have also raised funds for the home.

Our Tables department staff introduced Montecasino to Banakekeleni and were instrumental in raising a sum of R8 000 for a fridge and freezer for the home. Clothes are also collected on an ongoing basis for the home to sell to raise funds.

The consensus is that we continue to support this home and heighten our assistance, after a full needs analysis and due diligence study has been carried out.

Should you want to contribute to this programme, please download our Pledge form.

Print the form and fax it back to +27 (0) 11 510 7070 / 7071

New Life Centre - Hillbrow

The New Life Centre was formed in April 2005 by two exceptional women, Khopotso and Babalwe, who could no longer stand by and watch the sexual exploitation of women and children in Hillbrow and surrounding areas.

These two women regularly visit the problem areas late at night, to rescue children from hotel rooms.

Many children have resorted to this helpless way of life, because their parents have died of AIDS and they have no other means to feed themselves or their younger brothers and sisters. To survive these horrendous conditions, children are turning to drugs and alcohol to escape their harsh reality.

The New Life Centre provides a platform to give a better life to the children who find themselves trapped in these circumstances. It is a safe haven where women and children can be protected and given an opportunity to attend school and complete their education, and provides opportunities to learn life skills that will enable them to earn a living in future.

Montecasino Corporate Events have adopted The New Life Centre Shelter as their primary CSI project and we encourage our business partners, suppliers, friends and families to assist us in our efforts to get as many children as possible off the streets in Hillbrow and into a home, where they will have a chance to attend school, experience a family environment and lead a normal life.

Montecasino Corporate Events has raised sufficient funds to rent a 4 bed roomed home in a suburb next to Hillbrow for a period of 3 years, that currently accommodates, feeds, educates and sustains 15 children from an exploited background. After 3 years, our long term goal is to raise sufficient funds to buy a home for the New Life Centre.

Sponsor a Child Campaign

For a donation of just R20,000 (Twenty thousand Rand) per annum, which is tax deductible, companies can sponsor the education, living expenses and well being of a child for a full year.

There are 15 children in the shelter that need sponsorship and if each company we dealt with, sponsored just one child per year, we would make a huge difference in the lives of these unfortunate children.

Sponsoring companies will be given an official receipt for their donation from the New Life Centre.

If you would like to contribute to this worthwhile program, please download our pledge form.

Print the form and fax it back to +27 (0) 11 510 7070 or +27 (0) 11 510 7071.

SA Guide Dogs Association

Montecasino has had a long and proud Corporate Social Investment relationship with the South African Guide Dogs Association since Montecasino opened its doors in November 2000.

Over the years the now legendary themed Winter Ball in aid of the SA Guide Dogs Association for the blind (SAGA) has become an eagerly anticipated annual happening which is regarded as the premier event on the South African Social calendar.

Montecasino venue sponsors for the 2008 event are providing the magnificent Montecasino Ballroom, an authentic and romantic setting is the perfect venue for the intrigue and excitement of the 2008 Winter Ball – A Socialite Ball.

The Annual Winter Ball organized by Edith Venter Promotions, provides a high profile platform for the involvement of corporate sponsors and private individuals to provide financial assistance to SAGA in training puppies to one day assist the visually disabled as Guide dogs / seeing eye dogs.

SAGA has been training dogs for more than 50 years to assist disabled people, and in doing so improve their lives.

HOG K.I.D.S Run – Annual Fundraiser

The annual charity fundraiser 'HOG K.I.D.S run', affectionately known as 'The Kids Run', an acronym for Kids in Dire Straits, thundered into Johannesburg’s Montecasino on Sunday 18th May 2008.

This joint initiative between Montecasino Corporate Events, the Johannesburg chapter of H.O.G (Harley Owners Group), the Rotary Club of Sandton and South Africa's largest independent radio station, Jacaranda 94.2 raises funds annually to purchase blankets for needy children – just in time for winter.

The event started at the Harley Davidson Dealership in Sandton, where departure time was scheduled for 09h00, although more enthusiastic members started arriving from 07h30. The Group of Harley Bikers headed for the highway, picking up more groups of bikers and other chapters of H.O.G en route to Pretoria, and then back to Fourways.

This culminated in more than 800 gleaming machines and leather clad riders roaring into the Piazza at Montecasino, making it the largest gathering of Harley Davidson bikes on the African continent.

Montecasino invited the children from one of the charities they support, The Oasis Haven of Love Foundation, to enjoy the fun, as well as to present them with 50 of the blankets collected on the day. Montecasino General Manager, Steve Howell had this to say: "Montecasino are proud to be involved with an initiative of this nature, and will continue to support it into the future".

The Durban and Cape Town kids ride took place at the same time, and Rotary raised more than R80,000.00.

The Harley Owners Group, (H.O.G) has over a million members worldwide, and are known for their ongoing efforts to raise funds for those in need. Their successful initiatives have already benefited more than 6,000 under-privileged children in and around the Johannesburg region.

The Rotary Club of Sandton was responsible for distributing the blankets collected to over 200 beneficiaries countrywide.

The 2008 HOG Kids run was a phenomenal success, with an amazing atmosphere. Thanks to everyone involved who made it the success it was – The H.O.Gs, all the marshals and the Metro Police, The Sandton Rotary Club and the team at Montecasino CSI who made it all possible.

Women & Men Against Child Abuse

Montecasino has been a long-time supporter of this organization. In 2005, Montecasino donated an amount of R80 000 which helped to assist the Kidz Clinic in Alexandra Township. In 2006, Montecasino again donated R80 000 as a sponsor for the annual Women and Men Against Child Abuse Ball.