Avril Elizabeth receives much-needed help from Elizabeth Anne's

The Avril Elizabeth home has received another much-needed financial boost from Elizabeth Anne's Baby Care Products to assist in its work for the mentally handicapped.

Elizabeth Anne's, distributors of a comprehensive range of baby care products, recently handed over a cheque to the value of R180,609.60 to the Home's CEO, Sylvia Haywood.

The substantial donation is the result of an annual national promotion, where 10c from every Elizabeth Anne's product sold was donated to the home.

"The aim of the promotion is to highlight the plight of the mentally handicapped in our country and to raise much-needed funds so as to assist in maintaining the living conditions of all at the home," says Tiger Brand's Category Director, Amanda Ewen.

Reliable estimates indicate that over 2% of the general population of this country has some sort of mental handicap - some more severe than others.

A mental handicap is not hereditary. It can stem from birth, such as cerebral palsy or as a result of oxygen deprivation, or later in life as the result of accidents or trauma. While the condition is incurable and cannot be treated with medicines or drugs, much can be done through the use of remedial and occupational therapy to improve the quality of life for those, who through no fault of their own, are forced to go through life with this disability.

"This promotion was our way of putting something back into the community, and more specifically, into an area that is so often forgotten, as they are unable to speak for themselves," continues Ewen.

The Avril Elizabeth Home for the Mentally Handicapped is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing support and services to children and adults who are mentally, and in many cases also physically disabled, as well as to their families and caregivers. The home was formed some 30 years ago and caters to people of all ages, genders and races from all walks of life with many indigent, orphaned or abandoned residents.

"The money donated by Elizabeth Anne's will be used primarily to maintain the high standards of care provided by the Home, as dwindling government subsidies make this sort of contribution essential to our work," says Haywood.

"It will also allow us to make opportunities accessible to more mentally handicapped people, increase community awareness, make work experience available as well as encourage acceptance of people who have a disability."