A MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCES FROM THE NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN’S FUND

It is with deep sorrow to receive the news of the passing of Mr Franklin Thomas. From the Board of Trustees, Management, and Staff of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (the Fund), may you receive our heartfelt condolences.

Mr Thomas has been a beacon of true servant leadership in this world. Through his work as President and CEO of the Ford Foundation, Mr Franklin committed to advancing the work of Mr Mandela’s children’s legacy projects as a donor and advocate.
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Through the years, the Ford Foundation supported the strategic work of the Fund which includes poverty alleviation, promoting the safety of children as well as their health and survival in the early development of their lives.

Furthermore, the Ford Foundation remains a major donor of Mandela’s dream for a dedicated paediatric facility, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital (NMCH) based in Johannesburg, South Africa. NMCH which will be celebrating five years of operations next year, providing services to critically-ill children and we owe our thanks to the support of partners like Mr Thomas and the Ford Foundation who have made this possible.

Mr Thomas’s relationship with Mr Mandela remains etched in our memory and his impact and influence continues to reverberate in our work across our country and region.
We are truly grateful and honoured to have had the opportunity to work, engage, and love Mr Franklin. Thank you to the Thomas family and Ford Foundation for sharing him with us. You remain in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult period.

May his spirit rest in peace.