WHO would have thought that something so positive would come out of such a tragic death?
Oliver Fortuin (22) was tragically killed in a motorcar accident in the early hours of Saturday 13 October.
For friends and family of the late Oliver it however became an enlightening experience.
During his short lifetime he inspired and touched everybody he knew in such a way, that friends and family established the Oliver Fortuin Foundation as a non-profit organisation for the purpose of empowering the youth by getting them involved in community-based activities to address poverty in the Paarl community.
At the time of his death, Oliver was a promising final year student at the University of the Western Cape.
The first activity that the members (friends and family) of the foundation planned was to distribute food parcels to a selected portion of the Paarl community for the Christmas period.
The members, some as young as eight years old, collected contributions from the Paarl community to the value of R21 750 over a period of just ten days to purchase food hampers.
Shortly before Christmas, these hampers were distributed by the youth members themselves who visited each of the identified families personally to allow them to experience the conditions under which poor and destitute people are living.
Hampers were distributed to families in Mbekweni, Wellington, Klapmuts, Groenheuwel, Fairyland, Smartietown, Chicago and Amstelhof.
Before they set out to distribute the parcels, the members gathered at the Fortuin home in Seine Avenue, Klein Parys, where the parcels were blessed by Father Andrew Wyngaard and they were all sent off into the community with a prayer.
Since Oliver’s accident, Father Wyngaard was instrumental in helping his friends in dealing with his sudden passing. It was during a massive bereavement counselling session led by him at the Fortuin home three days after the accident that the youths expressed their desire to start something positive in Oliver’s memory.
It is hoped that the activity would encourage them to be aware of the conditions of those less fortunate than themselves and to initiate a culture of giving. According to all the participants it was an enriching experience.
It was heartwarming to see young kids sacrificing their day to have chats with the family members they visited. As one of the members said: “Oliver’s death provided food for 100 hungry families over Christmas”.
In many homes they prayed with the families before explaining the aim of their organisation.
Members of the Foundation said that many of today’s youth are totally oblivious of how poor people live and hope the activities of the foundation will start a process whereby they will focus less on themselves and their own interests and thereby create a caring community.
The Foundation is planning future activities to empower the youth and to alleviate poverty in the community. They will appreciate future contributions and thank all those who contributed to the success of the venture.
Those who feel that they can help in making a difference in the community and who would like to get involved in the Oliver Fortuin Foundation, can contact any member of the Foundation.
