Many more Dinners of Hope

Orange Babies, a Dutch welfare organisation this week launched its Dinner of Hope initiative to take the concept of charity to private lounges in the suburbs. The Dinner of Hope is a new and innovative charity project with the motto “Put something nice on the table”. The organisatiion encourages Namibians to organise a dinner at their homes to raise money for HIV positive mothers and their babies as well as orphans and vulnerable children supported by Orange Babies. This charity concept seeks out groups of friends who collectively host a Dinner of Hope at the home of one of the friends. Guests are invited to the dinner and asked not to bring along the usual gifts but instead to make a donation to Orange Babies. Any person who wants to host a Dinner of Hope is invited to register with Orange Babies. The host is then provided with a promotional package which consists of flyers, place mats, reserve cards, balloons and a money box. Orange Babies has supported several projects since 2006 with money received from its mother organisation in the Netherlands. The organisation was registered recently with the Ministry of Health and Social Services. Pictured at the Dinner of Hope launch function are from left, Crystal Beukes, Ingrid de Beer and Natasha Williams-Phatela (Orange Babies board members) with Leonie Dunn, chairperson of the Orange Babies board and Odille Gertze, Ambassador of Orange Babies. (Photograph by Lorato Khobetsi)