CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Dear friends of Community Chest

It gives me great pleasure to write this report. From my desk to your heart and minds, it provides a brief insight into the vast and growing work of the Community Chest. I have been privileged to chair the Board of Directors since October 2013. Along with my fellow directors, we have worked to serve and build the mission of Community Chest.

Leading a non-profit agency in these turbulent times is not an easy task. We are always acutely aware of the enormous responsibilities we carry to make decisions that enable the staff and management team to fulfill our mission with confidence and support from the directors. Over the last six years of my chairmanship we have seen that good leadership, good staff teams and good decisions resulted in our annual income growing by an average of 8% each year. This has enabled Community Chest to invest more funding in our grantees. The 2019 financial year demonstrates that programme, project and grant investments reached an all-time high of R37 million. This achievement was made possible due to our numerous donor partners and committed staff. I want to especially thank the Western Cape Government for their partnership with Community Chest which enabled us to grow both our footprint and impact in education.

In the challenging political and economic environment facing the Development sector in South Africa, it is imperative that NGO boards and its volunteer directors have a sound understanding of the work they are ultimately accountable for. It is this sound understanding that will be their guide through these challenging times. Bringing both business expertise and an understanding of the Development sector’s challenges into programmatic synergy is what ultimately becomes the steady hand that provides effective leadership.

The Community Chest is all too aware that without its donors, its NGO implementing partners and the many other relationships it holds with our stakeholders, the outcomes achieved would be impossible. We are enormously grateful to everyone who donates to and partners with us in this important undertaking. Thank you for your collaboration in this audacious hope we have for a better present and a brighter future.

It is important that we as leaders understand that the real heroes in this endeavour are not us, but the child who stays in school despite a bullet riddled classroom, the mothers who form a walking bus to escort their children to and from school and the parents who, amidst horrific unemployment realities, venture out daily to seek work in order to feed their families and neighbours. It is these stories of resilience that we honor and place in the centre of our dialogues and decision-making. For it is when our communities act in such collective and responsible fashion that we can be assured that our country is journeying in the direction of embracing hope.

It was former United States President Barack Obama who wrote so eloquently in his 2006 book titled, The Audacity of Hope, that “change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” For our country to become the country we all wish to see, we as its citizens, leaders and its workers must all have the courage to embrace the greater good. This is what the work of Community Chest is all about.

It has been my singular honour to serve the Board of Community Chest and its staff and partners over the last few years. My commitment and prayer is that we will all remain inspired, committed and active citizens in service of our country.