KNYSNA NEWS - Thirty-one years ago Julie Gosling and Hanlie van Niekerk started Action Ads, housed in what was little more than an outhouse behind the old Jimmy’s Café on Knysna’s Main Street.
They were just a two-women band, with some capital from Julie’s mother, and a lot of passion and determination.
From that small beginning, when every Wednesday the two of them worked right through the night to get the paper on the streets by Thursday morning, they now employ 12 people full time and 14 part-time.
Through the years Action Ads has become so much more than a job creator: it has become part of Knysna’s fabric in many different and positive ways, not the least of which is donating many, many hundreds of thousands of rands into the community over the years, particularly into the underprivileged areas.
Some of these include sponsoring a variety of sporting events, teams and equipment; paying the unemployed to do long-term cleanup programmes in public places; paying school fees; and funding infrastructure development in many poorer schools and crèches.
Not many know about this side of Action Ads. Julie and Hanlie do their good deeds quietly without fanfare, motivated not by getting good publicity for their business, but by their innate generosity, big hearts, and belief in helping their fellow human beings where they can.
Award 'not given easily'
But some people have been watching.
Recently, Julie and Hanlie’s contribution to the Knysna community through Action Ads was honoured by Rotary when they were given the Paul Harris Fellowship award – the highest honour the Rotary organisation can bestow on anyone.
Doug Emanuel, president the Knysna Rotary Club, said when the award was made that the Paul Harris award was “not given easily”.
“It is awarded only to those who have demonstrated exemplary service to a community. We have with us today a local lady who we feel is worthy of this award.
"With her business partner, Hanlie van Niekerk, Julie founded Action Ads in Knysna in 1986. Throughout that time Action Ads has been published weekly, communicating the activities of organisations and individuals to all the residents of the Knysna area, and has lived up to its slogan ‘Published by locals for locals’,” Emanuel said.
He said Action Ads had supported the good work of many charities and NGOs over the years, including Rotary, which had been given free space to advertise.
This translated into increased Rotary funding and so, more support going into the local community.
'Making a significant difference'
“Action Ads is hand delivered to residents’ homes, a service that has always put it ahead of its competitors.
"It is ‘compulsory reading’ for newcomers and visitors to Knysna, as it reflects the lifestyle of Knysna in an unexpected way.
"Julie’s personal management of Action Ads makes her a worthy recipient of Rotary’s highest award for making a significant difference in the community,” he said.
Julie said they felt honoured to have received the award.
“We never expected it. I am so happy.”
Hanlie said having Action Ads as a printed product was of great value particularly to the poorer residents.
“There are lots of adverts online, but many poor communities don’t have access to computers, and they are the ones who need to hear about that secondhand washing machine or old bike for sale,” Hanlie said.
To make the award, Knysna Rotary had to make a donation of $1 000 (almost R14 000) to the Rotary Foundation in the US, which they did in Julie’s name.
This money goes into Rotary’s Global Grant fund for the use of Rotary clubs globally.
Emanuel said his club had just completed a model preschool for 100 children in Khayalethu.
The cost of the project was over R1.2-million, but the cost to the club was only R26 000, with the balance of the funding coming from Rotary’s Global Grant fund.
Read a previous article: Rotary rewards locals contribution
ARTICLE: MELANIE GOSLING
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