Primedia Outdoor "fills the gap" for Door Of Hope

Established in 1999 to assist abandoned, abused and orphaned babies and children, Door of Hope name came from the 'Baby Bin - hole in the wall', which provides a safe haven, 24 hours a day, for mothers facing no other choice but to place their babies in the certainty that they are giving their child the opportunity of a better life. By mid 2003 Door of Hope had taken in and successfully helped over 200 abandoned babies and children.

"Primedia Outdoor actively seeks opportunities to assist our community and recognised that Door of Hope desperately needed to create awareness to raise funding. We decided to conduct an extensive bus shelter advertising campaign for Door of Hope to raise public awareness of the organisation, to educate and inform those mothers desperately seeking sanctuary for their children, and to forcefully remind the general public of the steadily increasing plight and vast numbers of destitute children in South Africa," comments Mark Mac Donnell, Sales and Marketing Director Primedia Outdoor.

As statistics reflect that the majority of children are abandoned in Johannesburg and its surrounding areas, Primedia Outdoor selected bus shelter sites located close to Door of Hope safe havens and surrounding areas.

These sites included:

Braamfontein
Jeppestown
Kensington
La Rochelle
Lenasia
Lombardy East
Malvern
Mayfair West
Moffatview
Newlands
Observatory
Ophirton
Rewlatch
Roseacre
Rossetenville
Selby
Springfield
Triomf
Toyeville
Westdene

Primedia Outdoor donated over 20 bus shelter-advertising sites for a month each and has agreed to continue the campaign on the sites until such time as the inventory is re-sold.

"Children are our future, making the success of the Door of Hope campaign essential. The project is close to our hearts at Primedia Outdoor. Statistically we will have 2 million abandoned and orphaned children by 2005 due to the Aids pandemic. Door of Hope helps any abandoned child regardless of colour, race or creed, but note that much of their assistance goes to children left destitute due HIV/AIDS. Any project that addresses these needs is worth investing in," reiterates Mac Donnell.

A few days after the first bus shelter advertising was erected, Door of Hope informed Primedia Outdoor that the life of an unborn baby had already been saved through their efforts!

"Literally a few days after the first bus shelters were branded we received a call from a young women who had been desperately seeking refuge for her unborn child. Seeing the advertisement she called our offices. Primedia Outdoor's social responsibility initiative ensured we booked the mother into a hospital and made arrangements to collect the infant as soon as it is born and deal with all the legal issues as we source a home for the infant," states Kate Allen, Manager, Door of Hope.

This is not the only success story, Door of Hope are currently dealing with another call that was made in response to the bus shelter campaign. "We cannot adequately express our thanks and congratulate Primedia Outdoor who, with Door of Hope, helped save at least two lives," reiterates Allen.

Providing exposure for Door of Hope wasn't enough for several members of Primedia Outdoor who spent a few hours with the children in residence at the Door of Hope Sanctuary delivering over a R1 000.00 of nappies, sweets and cool drinks, purchased by Primedia Outdoor, to the home.

"As a leading South African organisation we have a responsibility to assist worthy causes, but the actions taken by our staff of their own accord encouraged the whole of Primedia Outdoor to collect spare items from our homes for the children. They donated clothes, toys, shoes and a selection of baby items and I extend my appreciation and thanks to everyone who supported the children," reiterates Mac Donnell.