Every year, Gene Louw Primary’s 5E2 class, with Mrs Benita Faiers as their teacher, motivator and cheerleader, does a community project to introduce the learners to the joy of giving and helping as a group. This year’s initiative focused on our four-legged furry friends and was called the Purrs-n-Paws project. Lia Schagen, a Grade 7 learner with a passion for animal welfare, was also actively involved to help drive this project. The goal was to donate a total of 750kg of dog food and other pet goodies to two very worthy animal welfare organisations on completion of this project, and they did not disappoint.

Gene Louw Primary learners and parents are known as Genies who care. The details of the project quickly spread from house to house by means of their Facebook community, WhatsApp groups and of course word-of-mouth. Learners were dropped for school in the mornings carrying bags of dog and cat food, blankets and treats, and within a matter of days, their goal was not only reached, but exceeded! This would not have been possible without the generous donations and support from Lionel’s Choice and Sari du Plessis Estate Agents. During a special morning in our school hall, Gene Louw was able to create awareness for this worthy cause. Dr Caryn from Fisantekraal Animal Welfare and Caron from Grace Animal Sanctuary spoke to all the Grade 5 learners about the amazing and very important work they do and the responsibility everyone has towards animals, and the 5E2 class was honoured to donate a total of 800 kg of petfood and other necessities to these two organisations.