Who are you and what are you up to?
I am an ex-teacher, we are raising funds for literacy programs throughout the Western Cape. It was started two years ago in Johannesburg by Jacquie Myburgh Chemaly and Leigh Ord. We have had two sales in Johannesburg so far and raised close to two million rand. I was asked to run the one in Cape Town which is what we are doing. At the moment we are collecting beautiful gently worn clothes, bags, shoes and accessories which we will resell, all the money goes to literacy projects.
Fantastic, today is Mandela day, everyone has gotten involved to do their 67 minutes…
Mandela day is a day that we are made to think about Nelson Mandela and what he did for us in essence and to give back for 67 minutes. We have asked ladies to come and help us price-sort and pack clothing. We have two young ladies who are driving around and actually collecting donated clothes. We have had a great response don’t you think?
Fantastic!
Its all about recycling in a way as well, it is about reusing fashionable goods instead of throwing them away. You are able to give something, you are also able to come and buy something and it is all going to charity. It is a happy event. The donated clothing is of excellent quality, we have lots of designer labels; Country Road, Trenery, local designers but we need lots more. Desray has been amazing, they have just opened their stores up to us. It is one of the places you can deliver your donations. Mullers is another collection point in Claremont and Constantia. Topaz in Constantia and also Chic Mamas in Bergvliet,
A lot of people want to help they are just unsure as to how…
I think you are right. That is why we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people. I think when you ask they give, which is fantastic. We always have these things lying in our closets for 5 or 6 years, the things we think we will wear when we lose weight. Rather donate it to us and you will enable a child to read, if you look at it like that, it makes it more attractive to give.
Building our country starts with education…
Absolutely, we are all ex-teachers who started the project. If you have a generation of children that cant read you are in trouble. That is why we need to do as much as we can to encourage reading among children. This is why Chic Mama’s and Shine are such great projects because they focus on the reception years, where they really start to get children to love reading.
