Our History
The Vilakazi Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in South Africa. We fundraise in America and then travel to South Africa to share the hope of better health and education. We use donations to buy necessities, such as school supplies and sports equipment, for children in need.
We formed in the fall of 2009 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Our founder, Leigh Jacobs, was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He came to America in 2000 to go to college. He later met his wife, Carrie, and took her to his home country. They visited the beautiful village of Coffee Bay. After meeting the families who live and work in this town on the Wild Coast, the Jacobs decided they one day would try to help children in any way they could.
The result is Vilakazi, a grass-roots charity benefiting the children of South Africa. The organization is named after Vilakazi Street, the famous lane in Soweto that was home to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Vilakazi Street is the only road in the world that was home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners. Mandela and Tutu worked to improve South Africa and the world. We look to them as an example of how to make a big difference in small ways.
We formed in the fall of 2009 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Our founder, Leigh Jacobs, was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He came to America in 2000 to go to college. He later met his wife, Carrie, and took her to his home country. They visited the beautiful village of Coffee Bay. After meeting the families who live and work in this town on the Wild Coast, the Jacobs decided they one day would try to help children in any way they could.
The result is Vilakazi, a grass-roots charity benefiting the children of South Africa. The organization is named after Vilakazi Street, the famous lane in Soweto that was home to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Vilakazi Street is the only road in the world that was home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners. Mandela and Tutu worked to improve South Africa and the world. We look to them as an example of how to make a big difference in small ways.