Saturday, 10am
I arrived at the Project Feed the Children (PFTC) campus in Cloverdene where the Fit Fans (a social running club of about 15 people) arrived with two bakkie loads of blankets.
The group had been collecting blankets which they aimed to donate to the less fortunate to ensure some winter warmth for the less fortunate.
Before the handover, they arrived at Old Bens Sports Grounds and ran all the way to the informal settlement to truly understand how cold people get who are without warm clothes.
I took a beautiful photo of two sets of twins who were snuggled up in the new, warm blankets.
In the end, the Fit Fans donated 300 blankets to the non-profit organisation – a welcome relief for the beneficiaries.
Saturday, 11am
Community members (many from the Benoni Community Police Forum (CPF) converged at the area of vacant land on the corner of Bunyan Street, next to the on-ramp onto the N12 highway.
They arrived to once again, voluntarily, rid the area of the dense growth of trees and shrubs.
This was done in the hope of preventing criminals from seeking refuge in the dense growth before and after committing crimes such as smash-and-grabs.
Chainsaws, Bobcats and pure sweat and muscle were the order of the day for these folk.
They did all the hard work themselves with no remuneration. On the contrary, they spent their own money.
Saturday, 3.30pm
Members of the Round Table arrived at the BP petrol station on Tom Jones Street with hundreds of blankets and containers filled with soup.
These were not to be sold, but handed out, free, to vagrants across Benoni and Boksburg.
To show their respect to the less fortunate who have to bear winter’s might, they did this in shorts and shirts.
Saturday, 4pm
I realised that desperate times call for desperate measures.
Lakeside Mall played host to the first ever Caxton speed dating event.
Men and woman arrived to impress complete strangers – some perhaps for a good giggle, or maybe for true love.
Sunday (many hours)
A tragic accident involving one vehicle claimed the life of two people, Jacques Day (24) and his girlfriend, Jacqueline Roos (21).
The two died on Celia Nestadt Road after the vehicle they were travelling in crashed and burst into flames.
The news of the tragedy spread, and within 15 hours, over 100 people gathered at scene of the accident to pay their respects to the victims by erecting a cross and laying down flowers.
So, what did I take from the weekend which had some sweet, funny, heartwarming and tragic moments?
1. There are so many selfless people in Benoni. I hope this will to help complete strangers infects all Benonians (could you imagine the result?)
2. We sometimes take life too seriously. Are we really so desperate to find love that we have to enter a speed dating competition?
3. Life can be snatched from you in a second. Tell the people who you love as often as possible that you love them; you never known when your last goodbye may be. KvdL
