Mandela Day initiatives will uplift communities

Organisations and entities across South Africa are mobilising to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela through various service initiatives for Thursday’s celebration of Mandela Day.

In KwaZulu-Natal a range of projects from book drives to nutrition programmes are aimed at uplifting communities and fostering unity.

In Durban, the Denis Hurley Centre is spearheading a month-long book drive where they collect quality second-hand books for their Street Lit booksellers.

Mandela spent 10 052 days in prison, so the challenge to the people of Durban is to donate at least 10 052 books. Street Lit Booksellers is a Durban-based entrepreneurship programme that enables a team of homeless or formerly homeless men and women to earn a modest living, have a renewed life-purpose, and to encourage and enable people to read more books.

On Tuesday, the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature visited Ashdown Zinhle Crèche, a registered NPO in the Edendale area.

Legislature spokesperson, Nomusa Phungula, said: “Every year, the legislature organises outreach programmes which see the institution lending a helping hand to needy communities, promoting the protection of the environment as well as fixing what is broken,such as painting public buildings, cleaning of cemeteries and streets in honour of Madiba.”

Last year’s Mandela Day programme saw the legislature building a house for a senior citizen in conjunction with the private sector which donated the building material.

In efforts to combat hunger, SA Harvest has a call-out for their #BucketsofNutrition challenge, an initiative designed to provide essential nutrition to families in need across Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town.

This campaign aims to address immediate hunger and provide sustenance that lasts beyond Mandela Day, feeding a family of four for up to three weeks.

“Participants can get involved in three primary ways: by packing buckets, donating their time, or contributing financially. Corporates, families, and community groups are encouraged to pack buckets filled with essential food items, which will help feed a family of four for an extended period. Volunteers can also donate their time to help pack buckets or assist with logistics.

Financial donations are welcomed and will be used to purchase ingredients for the buckets, with every R500 donated funding one bucket,” said SA Harvest.

Packed buckets can be delivered to participating partner malls and Makro stores, in Durban at The Pavilion and Makro Springfield, in Johannesburg at Melrose Arch and Makro Woodmead, in Cape Town at the V&A Waterfront and Makro Ottery/Montague Gardens.

For donations of 50 buckets or more, SA Harvest will collect within a 30km radius of their warehouses.

The Mercury