How It All Began
The Lolla's Light Story
You can read more about who Lolla was and why we named our foundation after her here.
My name is Maxine and I'm the founder of Lolla's Light (it still feels so weird to say that)!
I started working at Hudsons in 2015 and met a wonderful barman called Prosper. He and his wife were expecting their first baby, so I decided to try and support them and bought a few things for their child.
Soon after their son - Alwande - was born, I was asked if I wanted to come and meet "my son", so of course I went to meet him. I didn't know it then, but this little dude would later become my godson, and the first official Lolla's Light kid.
Around the same time, I started tutoring for a foundation at UCT, and was paired with a kid called Akho. He was very shy but really smart and I loved spending my Saturdays with him. We started going on outings and it was during one of these outings that he told me he wanted to learn how to swim. I posted on Instagram asking for donations to cover one term of swimming lessons, and got enough money to cover a whole year of swimming classes!
“That's when I realised people really want to help - you just have to tell them how.”
I started asking for donations for Alwande and Akho, and then I kept meeting more and more awesome humans and their kids, and began supporting them wherever I could. By this time I had quite a few regular supporters - just people who would see my Instagram stories and support the cause I was fundraising for. It was amazing to see how eager people were to help and how generous everyone was!
Eventually I decided to create a page just for the kids. This would allow me to post about them regularly, sharing updates with our donors and supporters. It also meant I could try to reach more people than just my friends and family. So, in 2022, Lolla's Light was officially born.
We now support 14 children, aged 18 months to 20 years. We try to be there for the children and their families in every way we can - whether it's covering school fees, uniform, transport, therapy (speech, occupational, play or trauma) or extra-curriculars and, of course, spoiling them on Christmas and their birthdays. We also host events every couple of months where the kids get to hang out with each other and partake in a fun activity - with past activities including yoga, karate and dance! Planning these events is a lot of fun, and I really look forward to being able to see all the kids and spend time with them regularly.
Currently it's just me running the admin side of things, but my family, partner and friends help a lot with logistics! I could honestly not do any of this without them offering lifts, helping me organise events and helping me wrap 127235274 presents at Christmas.
