Putting heart and soul into helping others

JORDAN MOSHE

His commitment to seeing others thrive is expressed in Build the Future, a unique project which brings hope to hundreds of people daily.

“If you’re doing something for others, you need to put your heart into it,” Shapiro says. “When you commit yourself completely, you’re not only making a difference, but inspiring others to do the same in whatever way they can.”

Shapiro, 44, has been involved in community work for the past two decades, and founded Build the Future in 2006. Together with his partner, Clive Wetherill, he has successfully launched a preschool and combined feeding scheme in Kya Sands, as well as an after-school feeding scheme in Motsoaledi in Soweto.

Beyond providing more than 500 meals daily, the organisation uplifts these areas with yoga classes, music, and ongoing engagement with volunteers, all geared towards improving the lives of hundreds of people.

Shapiro’s passion for helping others blossomed at the age of 17. “Friends invited me to join them in helping at a soup kitchen in Alexandra. I was an only child, and grew up with everything I needed. When I arrived in Alex and saw how people lived, and how much they needed, I experienced my turning point. I went home, opened my cupboard, and took out enough clothes to fill two refuse bags. I had to do something to help.”

He went on to involve himself in various development and charity projects, frequently working with American volunteers who visited South Africa for the sole purpose of helping others. It was while working with volunteers in Kya Sands in 2011 that Shapiro felt a longer term and sustainable project was required in the area to make a lasting impact.

“We needed something more permanent,” he says. “The organisation heading up efforts in the area pulled out, and I felt something long lasting should take its place. I met a landowner who happened to have vacant space available, and had actually been waiting for an opportunity to put it to charitable use. He told me how badly the area needed such a project, and that I was the person he had been waiting for.”

Although he had no financial support for the project at the time, Shapiro says he was determined to make it work, and invested money of his own in the undertaking. “If you run your own business and don’t invest your own money in it, your heart isn’t in it either,” he says. “I saw a need, and had to fill it, hoping funds would be found soon enough to ensure the project could continue.”

What began as a single rented shipping container in Kya Sands soon grew into a preschool, library, and feeding scheme. The success was replicated in Motsoaledi, Soweto, with the creation of an after-school feeding scheme run from a small kitchen behind the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital with only two staff members. Ninety percent of those who rely on the scheme are children, and Shapiro strives to reach as many as possible.

Beyond the initiatives in Gauteng, Build the Future also established a school in KwaZulu-Natal three years ago, having identified a need in rural Ndwedwe about 45 minutes from Ballito. The school accommodates 45 children, and is the first preschool in the area. Additionally, Shapiro’s organisation has adopted an existent primary school, providing meals and other resources.

All this is accomplished in spite of the fact that Build the Future has never had a full-time fundraiser. Shapiro says that much of the funding for his work comes from the United States, as does most of the volunteers who assist. He works closely with donors and contacts abroad, co-ordinating volunteer visits to South Africa that typically last a week.

“We host volunteer groups from the US regularly. They cover their own expenses, and pay us to put them up for the duration of their visit. These are people who want to make a difference, and who stay for only a week, but who go home with a unique story to share, and inspire others to do it themselves.”

Because the organisation operates only on weekdays, Shapiro says local volunteers find it difficult to make time to become involved. “It’s actually difficult to get South Africans involved. Those who want to get involved often don’t have time in the week. Some of the areas in which we work have a negative reputation, and people are fearful. Some are just apathetic. I’d love to see more locals get involved.”

He says a few local organisations have supported the project, among them Chabad House’s Miracle Drive, which sponsored half of the library in Kya Sands. However, Shapiro urges more people to commit themselves to projects like this, and make a tangible difference wherever they can.

“It’s not easy to support a project like ours,” he admits. “There are roughly 280 000 charities in South Africa in need of support and funding, making the US contribution important.

“That doesn’t mean we mustn’t do our best here. I want to provide the youth of our country with the resources they need now so that they can become part of the solution to South Africa’s problems in the future. We have our issues here, and if you can identify a problem, you have the responsibility to address it instead of complaining about it.”

Shapiro concludes that while we can’t help everyone, we must do what we can for those around us. “Judaism teaches that if you save one life, you’ve saved a world,” he says. “You need to find the place where you’re passionate about making a difference, and do it. It’s that simple.”