A year after facing closure, Isiseko Educare Centre has reopened with a brand-new building and renewed hope. Thanks to community support, over R1 million was raised to rebuild the preschool....
Read moreEach year, we assess how children are growing, learning, and preparing for school. The 2025 ELOM results highlight both exciting progress and areas where extra support is still needed. Here’s a snapshot of what we learned this year....
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We celebrated excellence in early childhood development at our annual awards ceremony on 2 December, honouring the dedication of principals and practitioners shaping young futures....
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Five preschools bravely transitioned to independence, taking charge of their own governance and future. With community support and guidance from KET, they built confidence through challenge. Seen through Principal Nadia's journey, this is a story of leadership shaped by heart and determination....
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Knysna Education Trust and Food Lovers Market have joined forces to revolutionise meals in early childhood centres — shifting from ad hoc meal planning to expertly designed, protein-rich menus that support healthy brain development. This collaboration is setting a new standard for child nutrition across Knysna’s most vulnerable communities....
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67 ECD practitioners in Knysna and Sedgefield completed accredited First Aid and Basic Firefighting Training. With support from B. Braun Medical (Pty) Limited and the commitment of local centres, every partner facility now has skilled staff ready to respond to emergencies....
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In June 2025, we screened 305 Grade R learners across 42 partner sites to assess their readiness for Grade 1. The results highlighted clear developmental gaps, pointing to where our Preschool Area Leaders can provide targeted support to help them get on track before the end of the year. ...
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In Knysna, a community-wide effort is making early learning a reality for thousands of young children. Through a powerful Rotary International Global Grant, access to quality ECD has expanded dramatically. We've launched new centres, supported women entrepreneurs, and helped more sites qualify for government funding....
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We’re creating a children’s book set right here in Knysna—and we want YOUR stories!...
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In Knysna, a community-wide effort is making early learning a reality for thousands of young children. Through a powerful Rotary International Global Grant, access to quality ECD has expanded dramatically. We've launched new centres, supported women entrepreneurs, and helped more sites qualify for government funding....
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Municipalities play a bigger role in Early Childhood Development than they realise. In Knysna, small efforts have helped — but real barriers still hold ECD back. This article highlights how local government can become a true partner in building brighter futures....
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We invited 38 ECD principals and cooks to join us for a special workshop dedicated to children's nutrition. Because children who eat well, learn well....
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These children are learning to care for the environment—and inspiring adults to do the same. With every bag collected, they’re building pride, restoring nature, and proving that small hands can spark big change....
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Bethel Early Learning Centre is proof that big things can grow from small beginnings. Started in a backyard shack, this preschool now educates 45 children in Khayalethu. We spoke with Principal Nokwazi, whose determination and heart continue to shape young lives....
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Looking to make a big impact this Mandela Day? Why not help a preschool in need of assistance!...
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We are thrilled to welcome Dr Judy-Marié van Noordwyk to the Knysna Education Trust team as our new Managing Director. With deep roots in the social sector and a strong academic foundation, Judy-Marié brings a wealth of experience and passion to the role. We asked her a few questions to help our community get to know her better....
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We are excited to announce the reopening of our Further Education and Training Centre with the launch of the QCTO Accredited Level 4 Early Childhood Development Practitioner’s Course. ...
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The recent ELOM 4-5 year old results show that KET’s programmes have been instrumental in helping young children meet their developmental milestones, ensuring they enter Grade R equipped with the essential skills to thrive. Comparative results from 2022 and 2024 revealed a 24% increase in children on track for Grade R....
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KET's three-year Rotary International Global Grant has successfully closed, marking a significant milestone in improving Early Childhood Development (ECD) access in the Knysna region. KET partnered with SmartStart to establish new ECD facilities, train franchisees, and enhance existing sites, ensuring safe and quality learning environments for children. This initiative has not only improved infrastructure but also empowered parents and caregivers to be active participants in their children’s educational journey....
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In 2023, 54% of children screened in Knysna required dental treatment, highlighting the critical need for better oral health care. In response, the Rotary Club of Knysna and the Western Cape Department of Health approached KET to become involved in an Dental Health Initiative to educate young learners on proper oral hygiene, distribute dental supplies, and engage parents in supporting healthy habits at home. ...
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KET's feeding scheme provided over 120 000 nutritious meals to 455 children across 12 preschools in 2024, addressing chronic malnutrition and its impact on growth and brain development....
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In 2024, 279 children participated in bi-weekly therapy groups led by occupational therapists, focusing on challenges like pencil grip, language barriers, and confidence. Through tailored interventions, the children made significant progress, ensuring they are ready for Grade R by the end of the year....
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On 3 December 2024, we celebrated excellence in Early Childhood Development at our annual awards ceremony. The event recognised outstanding contributions by ECD teachers, principals, and preschools, highlighting their dedication to children’s growth. Special guest Noluthando Moshesh inspired the audience with a powerful message on the importance of parental engagement in education....
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KET has revitalised its Early Childhood Development (ECD) curriculum, aligning with the nationally approved CAPs standards. With monthly training workshops and engaging resources, KET is empowering preschool practitioners to create dynamic and impactful learning experiences for their students....
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The aim of this collaboration is to ensure that every child is ready for primary school, addressing challenges posed by socio-economic factors. This initiative not only enhances teacher development and parental involvement but also equips early childhood facilities with essential resources to support young learners in their crucial formative years....
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Isiseko Educare Centre is a vital resource for local children, but safety hazards within the building have put the preschool on the brink of closure, jeopardizing the future of its young learners. Every contribution is essential to preserving this cherished institution for generations to come....
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The KET team participated in the Knysna Oyster Festival once again, showing up in full force to join and support the events taking place. From venturing in the Knysna forest to a children's art exhibition, it was a joyous ten days with many tourists visiting out wonderful town. ...
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Founded in 2014 at Yolandi's home, Jaydine's Daycare marks a decade of nurturing children in their community. With humble beginnings driven by familial inspiration and community support, Yolandi reflects on the growth and challenges of her beloved ECD facility. ...
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Mandela Day was momentous for two ECD facilities in Knysna, with local businesses coming together to give back to their community. From furnishing a kitchen to building an entire facility, Jeeves coordinated two life changing transformations....
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The Ingrid Diesel Golf Day 2024 is set to take place at Pezula Golf Estate, raising funds for the Ingrid Diesel Scholarship. ...
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KET’s Model Preschool has rapidly grown from accommodating three children to one hundred, with a commitment to play-based learning and environmental stewardship. Exemplifying excellence in early childhood education, Principal Julie offers valuable insights for aspiring educators and community leaders alike....
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Two student’s from Durham University, UK, visited Knysna in July 2023 as part of the Laidlaw Leadership Research Programme. This is Jordan's account of his time spent at KET. ...
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With the generous support of attendees at the Festival of Books and a special contribution from Pam Golding, these age-appropriate books were secured. ...
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We celebrate the remarkable legacy of Principal Caroline, whose 37-year dedication to Humpty Dumpty Creche has touched countless lives. Through collaboration, a recent lifeline from KET revitalised the preschool and provided hope for the future....
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The story of Bukulwa, a Principal who achieved her dream by establishing Entabeni Nursery and Preschool. Through KET's programmes and support, Bukulwa transformed her home into a beacon of early childhood education, overcoming financial hurdles to provide quality learning experiences for her growing cohort of children. ...
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Showing super human resilience, Knysna local Olebogeng Kgengwe embarked on a monumental challenge to support children's education. Raising over R42,000 for 550 education packs, his remarkable journey demonstrates the transformative power of community support in shaping a brighter future for the next generation....
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KET's annual ECD Awards are a celebration of the ECD practitioners who are making a positive impact on our children. We invited teachers, principals and volunteers who have shown excellence in one or more aspects of their work. ...
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This year, each of our 12 programmes took it up a notch in their own way, pushing the limits to reach more children, improve the quality of our services and support the ECD practitioners who rely on them....
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These are not regular Christmas elves, these are Education Elves! 14 000km away, elves from The Rotary Club of Tarporley have gathered at local fairs to rally support for children’s preschool fees here in the Garden Route. Their goal is to raise funds to sponsor 100 more children through KET’s Adopt a Child’s Education (ACE) programme. ...
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With 95% of key staff in the ECD workforce being women, KET inherently boosts women’s economic participation through training, registration support, and by advocating for teachers and principals when opportunities arise. Another way of helping women and young people in the workforce is through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)....
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At KET's 30th Annual General Meeting we celebrated 10 ECD facilities who have been working in Knysna's informal settlements for over 25 years. We also thanked two trustees who have been instrumental since KET's inception. ...
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Over 100 golfers supported the initiative, raising R229 790 for children's education....
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“Coming here was the start of my journey and it’s been great to come full circle. Without having this experience here, I don’t know if I’d be doing what I’m doing now.”...
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KET was honored with two awards. The first award was presented to the registration team: Strong Government Partnerships: Registration. The second was presented to Khanyisa Dyele, KET’s community activator: Best Engagement Award 3rd Place. ...
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Involving parents in their child's learning strengthens the connection between parent and child. In August alone, the Blocks for Growth team conducted 459 group therapy sessions and 93 parents came to observe their children participate in the small group interventions. ...
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From the 21st to the 24th of June, a new event had Knysna riding and walking for a reason. The reason – supporting KET!...
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"We cannot fix all the big problems that exist in the world, but we can make a small dent in the ones we see before us, and that is what our donation was about.“ Read about how one donor chose to honour his mother’s legacy ...
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Until now, KET has always relied on external organisations to handle the matter of accrediting students’ qualifications. We are proud to announce that as of June 2023, KET is independently accredited to provide training....
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A recent tragedy involving the mysterious death of a little boy attending an unregistered Early Childhood Development (ECD) facility in Bonteheuwal has raised outrage as the public question why the number of unregistered ECD facilities operating in the Western Cape is so high....
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When Paula Whitney Preschool faced challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, KET stepped in to prevent it from closing. The support that followed is a testament to Knysna's community. ...
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April is World Autism Awareness Month! Here are some tips for parents and teachers to encourage development in neurodivergent children....
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The Blocks for Growth team's Teddy Bear drive brought in over 400 teddy bears for children in disadvantaged communities....
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KET was recently nominated for a one time donation from HOPE Worldwide South Africa in partnership with KFC! This donation will help feed about 300 children in 10 ECD facilities in both Plett and Knysna....
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We are grateful to each and every attendee who supported this event, proving how big the hearts are in our little corner of the Garden Route....
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Knysna Education Trust has been serving the early childhood development sector for 30 years! Read how is all started how the organisation's model has changed to support small business sustainability in the ECD sector. ...
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No child should go hungry. Working with partner organisations, our feeding schemes provide children the fuel they need to succeed. ...
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Knysna Education Trust wants to thank each person who donated towards our Mandela Month Campaign. As a community, we are working to ensure that children receive healthy meals to help them grow and thrive....
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Knysna Education Trust has been working with partner organisations to increase the availability of Early Childhood Development facilities, benefitting local women and children....
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When NPOs work together, they are able to expand their impact and help one another achieve their goals. We are happy to announce our collaboration with KILT and HERO, sharing Melrose House to Create a Cradle to Career Education Model....
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Play encourages intellectual, social, emotional, and physical skill development. It is a necessary tool that helps children grow into successful adults. Read about the benefits of play and how KET encourages learning through play in our different programmes...
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In South Africa about 30% of 3–5-year-olds do not attend early learning programmes, and for those that do, the quality of these programmes is often poor This means close to a million 3-5 years olds in South Africa are missing out on developing strong foundations for future learning every year. In the greater Knysna area......
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Knysna Education Trust (KET), a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) located in the Garden Route town of Knysna has been providing essential support services to the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector since 1993. Our comprehensive support model addresses ECD sector challenges, ensuring that preschool children reach age appropriate developmental milestones in key areas namely, cognitive, emotional and......
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KET contemplated that the Covid lockdown would extend beyond the predicted initial 8 weeks. The impact on our local affiliated unfunded Early Childhood Development facilities would be catastrophic for principals, teachers and the young children. KET sought to continue providing food security assistance to these preschools (and education packs), following the generous support provided in......
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“Schools may be closed, but we need to continue to support principals and teachers. And we need to try to get learning packs out to the children from affiliated schools throughout the Greater Knysna Area”. That was the message to Knysna Education Trust’s (KET) staff. Monthly reports continued, but instead of comments about literacy and......
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Introduction The IIP program is a DSD initiative. With this program, we want to determine the level of development and skills of 502 children at the 20 sites taking part in the program. We have gathered a group of highly skilled and trained professionals to help, intervene and develop the skills and knowledge of the......
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We are proud to once again host the Dare 2 Dash Obstacle Challenge at this years Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival! This will also be a qualifying event for the 2017 Junior BIG 5 Challenge. If you’re going to be in town for the 2017 Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival, join us for......
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By: Angelina Smith One of the highlights for me this month/s is putting in the final touches to the training room. The vision I had of a neat, spacious and organised area is complete. In addition, by creating an area for the students to grab a cup of tea/coffee and recoup during lecture breaks has......
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Collette Vacations and Collette Cares foundation have played a significant role supporting the young children of Knysna since 2013. To date Collette assisted with the rebuilding the Happy Faces preschool, sponsored 50 children on the Adopt a Child’s Education (ACE) programme for a year. In 2016 this relationship has further grown and has enabled KET to upgrade......
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The Trust is extremely proud to announce our partnership with the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust. The grant funding obtained from the OMT will allow KET to continue to provide the quality ECD services which have become our trademark in the ECD arena in the Greater Knysna Community. In the last 2 years the number of preschools......
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The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Souns-for-Literacy program in selected Knysna and Plettenberg Bay pre-schools. This included investigating if there were significant benefits for its recipients and recommending improvements that could be made to the program, particularly in adapting it to fit the South African context. The program......
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As part of their Global Week of Service (19-25 October), Conrad Pezula ‘adopted’ Sophokama Playschool and installed a flushable toilet, an awning and outdoor playground equipment. This amazing team also arranged a food drive and they all got stuck in to help dig holes, paint and decorate walls. Principal Eunice Geelbooi is absolutely ecstatic about......
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Sunny aptly describes both its location and the disposition of principal Ethel Sedibe. The dire need for electricity at Siyafunda Educare continued for nine years until it became clear that the only solution would be alternative energy. Naturally Solar was instrumental in establishing a list of requirements as well as putting KET in touch with......
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Wow! It seems as if Christmas has arrived early for Knysna Education Trust. Cape Island Construction, a local building company, has generously donated two properties located in Kayalethu to the Trust. “We have decided to do something substantial,” said owner John Rimbault as he signed the deed over to KET Chairman Richard Sohn. Vice-Chairperson Gina-Lee......
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What a welcoming sight! The singing of children as the sun streams in through the large windows of a freshly painted, beautiful farmhouse in Brackenhill. The reason for their cheer (and the beaming faces of their teachers) is because, after seven long years, they finally have their own preschool building, thanks to a collaborative effort......
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Gillian Carter, best known as the local Librarian for 35 years. She was passionate about Literacy and Early Childhood Education and also served as a trustee at KET for 20 years. The Gillian Carter Resource Centre was established in honour of this wise educationalist and great humanitarian who used her many talents to enrich the......
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Produced by Lesley Satchel SOUNS Co-ordinator Knysna Education Trust, November 2013 1. Preamble The SOUNS Literacy Programme was first introduced (through a grant from Rotary International) into preschool classes in 2010, and a relatively small number of preschool learners in the Knysna area were taught according to the correct SOUNS methodology. Since January 2012, thanks......
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The NUMICON mathematics programme was successfully customised and piloted within 4 preschools during 2013. In January 2014 KET introduced the Numicon Mathematics programme to 31 affiliated preschools in Knysna and Sedgefield. Numicon was developed to teach children new ways of learning mathematics and is based on 16 years of research done in the UK. The......
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On Monday 3rd March the Knysna Education Trust was delighted to meet with Rotary visitors from New Mexico in America who were responsible for funding our new Numicon mathematics programme. The programme has now been launched in twenty eight of our affiliated preschools and the children are thoroughly enjoying interacting with the attractive, child-friendly equipment. Training......
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The Knysna Education Trust, Cynthia Totito, her staff and all the children of Ilingalom-Afrika Preschool, would like to thank each and every donor and KET partner for the contributions received towards the building of the new classroom. Ilingalom has been in operation since early 2002, when the need in the community reached near crises point.......
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Funded by the Department of Social Development, KET was tasked with initiating a series of parenting information events and development workshops. The focus of these exhibitions was to center on the benefits of Early Childhood Development to a child’s foundation years and how parents are able to support their children’s development in the home. The......
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BACKGROUND Siyafunda Educare Centre in Robololo started early in 2007. The word Siyafunda means “We are learning”. The preschool was started by Ms Etheline Sedibe , a humble, determined woman, who had a vision to help working parents, and in particular single parents, by looking after and teaching their children during the day. At that......
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The second Big Swing charity golfing event, in aid of the Knysna Education Trust, was hosted by the stunning Pezula Golf Estate, on the 14th December 2012. The amazing generosity of people locally and internationally during these challenging economic times, contributed to the Trust raising R468 000 to fund key projects in 2013. Funds raised......
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Elizabeth Swartz of Happy Faces has surpassed the call of duty by opening her home to the children in her preschool. After a series of challenges, including the original wooden church which doubled as the preschool burning down and her having to evacuate from the temporary damp facilities of the Catholic Church basement as the conditions were......
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