Fourteen-year-old Charné van Emmenis is driving a teddy bear project for terminally ill children.
Charné, a Brakpan resident, was born with a heart condition and it is as result of this disease that she initiated the charity project for the less fortunate.
The project is gaining so much momentum that it now includes toiletries and clothes.
Her mother Rika said the family found out about Charné’s condition when she was just two years old.
“At the time we did not have a medical aid so she was admitted at Joburg General Hospital (now Charlotte Maxeke).
“When she was seven years old she remembered that while in hospital she received a big teddy bear which comforted her and kept her company when she was two,” said Rika.
It then occurred to her that at the same hospital there are children, some of whom are orphans, who might do with a teddy bear.
Charné said the teddy comforts them as they feel there’s someone they can talk to and tell all their secrets.
“Then I started collecting teddy bears and taking them with every time I go to the hospital for a check-up. I still do the same to this day.
“As I walk through the hospital and even in my ward I hand one over to those who need it,” Charné said.
Charné says she still takes her original teddy to keep her company when she goes for check-ups at the hospital .
The project is also growing in momentum.
“We have now included cosmetics. It recently started when we interacted with a nine-year-old boy called Neo at the hospital, whose parents died in a taxi accident.
“He was two months at the hospital and we realised he needed cosmetics and snacks, so Charné packed a big hamper which she gave to him. So this year, we are adding those items in the project,” said Rika.
Charné’s dance school is also involved in the project and has started collecting toys, colouring books, crayons and teddy bears for the project.
Lana Clack and Michelle Da Silva from LFG Aftercare, based at Ashton International College, are among the main sponsors of this charity drive for 2016.
All the toys and teddies that were collected were displayed at the Centenary Hall in Boksburg North, where Charné’s school was partaking in a dance competition.
A special thank you was extended to Gertie Tester, principal of Ashton International College, and all the children who sponsored teddy bears and toys.
Charné’s heart condition does not allow her to take part in contact sport, hence she took up dancing.
