Charity Camp for Robertson's Youth Hostel at Nona Rosa Bushcamp

This year is the forth year in a row this camp is held annually at Nona Rosa bushcamp in Heidelberg from the 4th to the 12th of December. Every year the children from this youth hostel visits an appropriate family for the vacation, however, some kids are not that lucky. These kids must stay at the hostel for the vacation,  while their friends are having fun vacation with a family.

The goal of this camp is to treat the children to a week of fun and activities so they won't feel left out. Usually there is about 26 children who attend this camp, from age 7 to 14, which is completely funded with donations as the organisers have no budget to work with. The team usually consists of the organiser, Mr de Beer himself, 5 youth helpers and 2 helpers from the hostel.

Previous years, Heidelberg and their surrounding communities showed their generosity by donating everything from money, food, presents, to activities for the children and more. Every child is provided with three hearty meals a day as well as cookies, sweets, treats and cooldrink donated by the community. The activities the kids participate in depends on what donations there is.

At the previous camps the children got the chance to go on boat rides on the Breede River, go hiking in the mountains and visit the game farm just outside of Heidelberg, to name a few. On site activities involved swimming in the river, quad bike rides and "boere-sport".

At the end of the week at this camp, the children are visited by Santa Claus, who gives them presents bought with money from donations.

Even though is just a small description about this camp, there is much more to tell. If you want to know more about this camp or make a donation, do not hesitate to contact the camp organiser, Mr Marius de Beer, at mcdebeer@mighty.co.za.

To view images from previous camps, do not hesitate to visit our gallery.

Great volunteering ideas

The questions you must ask yourself when deciding what charity work you want to do include:

• How big of a difference do you want to make?
• What is my target audience, who do I want to help?
• What do I have to contribute?
• What am I prepared to do?

You need to find an volunteering/charity opportunity that fits your personality. If you are a more 'outdoorsy' type, you probably want to consider volunteering to help with a camp for homeless kids or children's homes. If you are a good organiser, you would probably want to launch a project to collect teddybears, clothes or tinned foods for homeless shelters.

Here follows a few ideas you would want to consider when deciding where to make a difference:

1. Volunteer at your local food bank helping collect, organize, and pass out food. 
2. Plant a community garden. 
3. Start a drive to collect supplies for needy school children. 
4. Go to the less fortunate communities and teach children to read. 
5. Visit your local old age home and help out the elders by reading to them, singing to them, taking them for walks, and visit them for tea.... 
6. Volunteer at the SPCA to help animals in need, volunteer to bath animals, feed them, and take them for walks... 
7. Volunteer at your local community center to teach the youth something you know well, like karate, guitar playing, drawing, and painting... 
8. Organise a car wash and donate the funds raised to a charity in your community. 
9. Volunteer at your local food bank helping collect, organize, and pass out food. 
10. Start a drive to collect small change to buy Bibles for the children in less fortunate communities.

Source: http://www.bygpub.com/books/tg2rw/volunteer.htm | http://www.squidoo.com/50-summer-volunteer-ideas-for-kids-and-teens