Homeless people kitted with Winter essentials
PROVIDE: City centre homeless
To mark Mandela Day, two non-profit organisations based in Maitland and Thornton joined forces yesterday to hand out blankets and warm clothes to homeless people in the Cape Town CBD and also provide refreshments to volunteers protecting local malls from looting.
Things on Wheels member Bahiesha Solomons said close to 200 people received blankets, masks and beanies along the train lines in Strand Street.
“We went to the people living next to the tracks opposite The Castle and handed out 100 blankets, beanies and masks. We regularly donate to them, so they knew us very well and were extremely grateful for the donation,” she says.
Things on Wheels has been helping people as far as Mossel Bay from their base at 122 Coronation Street in Maitland for over 20 years while they regularly partner up with other organisations from across the Kaap.
“Before the lockdown, we had 490 schools that donated loaves of bread or sandwiches and today we got help from Thornton Cares, who assisted us in distributing the blankets.”
Thornton Cares founding member, Nadeem Hendricks, said they have a long-standing partnership with Things on Wheels and that it was important for them to mark Mandela Day by working together.
Nadeem, a former principal at Trafalgar High, said: “We are one of the organisations that make food for Things on Wheels to distribute while we also help them in any other way and they do the same.
“Today we came together in order to help people, which is our main aim.”
The two organisations travelled to Khayelitsha, Philippi East, Gugulethu and Mandalay to provide refreshments to neighbourhood watch members standing guard at malls amid fears of looting.
If you would like to donate to Things on Wheels, email [email protected] or [email protected].