Mark Greenhill - Comrades Marathon 2011 Fund Raiser for Little Eden

LITTLE EDEN Society for the Care of Persons with Intellectual Disability, established in 1967, is certainly a very special place where we serve, through our work, children and adults who are 'angels'; people who need to be protected and cared for and most of all loved. LITTLE EDEN is the permanent home to 300 residents who have intellectual disability, ranging in age from 3 years to over 70 years, the majority (70%) of whom have been abandoned or come from indigent families who are unable to support them financially or otherwise. At LITTLE EDEN we aim to develop our residents to their full potential and to encourage the community to recognise that each such person is a whole and complete person created by God with a mind, a body, a spirit and a soul ...however disabled. Statistically, the average age of our residents is 26 years, but the level of mental functioning is that of a one year old and younger. Some are HIV positive or have AIDS. Dealing with the terminally ill or dying forms part of the work carried out at LITTLE EDEN. Most of our residents stay with us until they die. Some residents have been with us for over 40 years and for many, LITTLE EDEN is the only home they will ever know. The Society consists of 2 Homes: one in Edenvale and the other on a smallholding in Bapsfontein, Elvira Rota Village. 253 individuals have employment at LITTLE EDEN.