Volunteering at the Princess Alice Adoption Home

Today is December 24th, and on this day every year my parents typically give to charity, particularly to a children's home in Minneapolis, in memory of my brother Patrick who passed away when we were in high school.

globalgiving.org

With my parents as inspiration, this year I decided to go hug some babies, since Tommy is in Cape Town with Hermann.  I looked on jozikids.co.za for charity organizations and discovered that the Princess Alice Adoption Home is only a few minutes from our place.  It's in the very larney suburb of Westcliff, surrounded by lovely old mansions.

The Home itself was founded by none other than the real Princess Alice, 82 years ago.  It's still going strong, filled to capacity with 30 babies under the age of 2, most of whom get adopted.  They need to be hugged and cuddled and snuggled every day, and to my delight the Home welcomed me as a hugger.

I played on the playmat with about six different babies, picking them up and comforting them as they got fussy.  I held a preemie who was actually 3 months old but looked one month, until he fell asleep, and then I lay him down in his cot.  I especially enjoyed a year-old boy who was learning how to walk.  I played "London Bridges" with him by rocking him back and forth between my extended ankles, while I sat and fed a six-month old girl from a bottle.  It was an amazing morning.

The photos here are from other websites, as it's not allowed to take photos of the current children.

If you wish to volunteer as a hugger or as a fundraiser, or if you'd like to make a donation, the contact info person is Jo-Anne Schermeier: princess_alice@mweb.co.za or +27 (0)11 646-5641. 

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