There were bright smiles and excited gesiggies in Bonteheuwel on Sunday as nearly 300 underprivileged children from the area were blessed with an Eid gift box.
The Bonteheuwel Joint Peace Forum with the help of local businesses, community leaders and parents managed to pack 217 shoeboxes filled with toiletries, stationery and toys.
Last year they filled 150 boxes, but thanks to generous donors, this year they were able to make more.
Every Ramadaan, the JPF helps children identified by community leaders as underprivileged and in need.
The JPF says Bonteheuwel as a community is filled with poverty, made worse by continued gang violence and mense living in a constant state of fear.
With the introduction of safe spaces, community development and taking care of their own, the JPF hopes to change the narrative of the area.
On Sunday the JPF, family and friends headed to the Bonteheuwel Multi-Purpose Centre with the prepared boxes and held a little motivational talk, led by community worker Nadia Mayman Da Grass.
ALL ABOUT SMILES: Soraya Salie, left, and Nadia Mayman Da Grass with a happy girl
Nadia said she was grateful to all who assisted and hoped to grow the initiative.
“It’s been an awesome journey for 2019. We smashed our totals of last year, which was almost 150,” she says.
“Big thanks to our partners Action Aid SA, I Define Me, Bonteheuwel Walking Ladies, Thrive, Brata, Bonteheuwel Youth Movement, Britney Cassidy and Ramadaan Shoebox Project.
“Last, but certainly not least, [thanks to] our pled-
gers and donors who came from far and wide. From complete boxes to socks, soap, toothpaste, [chips] and lollipops; hands to help wrap and pack; eyes to check the boxes against the lists; transport to collect, deliver and go buy necessities; no
matter what your contribution, you were part of making it happen.”
Nadia said an extra 60 children arrived at the hall, but no one left empty-handed.
Delores Jacobs, 68, who raises five grandchildren after their mother died from a drug overdose two years ago, says she is grateful for the help she received for her grandchildren.
Helpers ensured boxes were full
“We can always depend on the JPF for food whenever we have the need,” she says.
“They have done this project now and all my grandkids are blessed, but we also depend on them every day for a meal. We are grateful.”
Watch out for the JPF’s next as yet unnamed big project, as Nadia adds, “We plan on saving our Bonteheuwel.”