Lifestyle/Community
67 Blankets warm cockles of many a heart
What started as light hearted banter between Zelda la Grange, Nelson Mandela’s personal assistant and Carolyn Steyn last year, with a challenge to come up with 67 blankets by July 18, Nelson Mandela Day, to honour Madiba, has become nothing short of a knitting revolution!
OWN CORRESPONDENT
Blankets or squares to become blankets for the less privileged, poured in by the thousands. Jewish Report is an enthusiastic partner in this laudable project and the Jewish community has taken this project to heart.
It’s that time of the year again where the community is “called up to arms”, endeavouring through knitting and crochet needles, to make the world a better place.
Steyn says she is still amazed by the enthusiasm for the blanket project and the myriad postings on the blanket web page.
“Witnessing all the frenzied activity around our beautiful country over the past year… has made me realise how truly blessed we all are to have united in our common goal to keep our nation warm.
“Now it is crunch time again! I am truly grateful to each one of you who has joined in to make magic happen. And now we have official confirmation that we are contenders for the Guinness Book of the World records.
“Without each and every one of our thousands of KnitWits for Madiba, the hard work and long hours you have given to this project, none of this would have been possible. I am so proud of what we have achieved as a group; I don’t think there is any group quite like ours on Facebook.
Every single blanket from every corner of South Africa will be transported to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and then returned to their places of origin in time for distribution when the winter cold strikes.
D-Day for handing over the blankets throughout South Africa, was on Wednesday. At the Union Buildings an aerial shot of the sea of blankets will be taken, “showing the entire world how we have united as a nation to keep the legacy of our late, great father of our nation, Nelson Mandela, alive.
April 21 is yet another milestone. “Stitch by stitch we pledge to keep thousands upon thousands of people less fortunate than ourselves warmer over all the winters to come, in the name of our beloved Madiba.
“I hope to see as many KnitWits as possible as we celebrate 21 years of democracy on April 21. We will be there from 06:00 until 14:00.”