Giving the gift of dignity
The 31 Club has appealed to the community to support its Love Bags initiative.
LOCAL non-profit organisation, the 31 Club, is on a mission to restore the dignity of some of the elderly in the Durban community through its Love Bags initiative.
“Many of our elderly are in dire need of toiletries, and so in support of various old age homes we are aiming to fill 500 of the Love Bags with simple toiletries. Being able to restore their dignity is a gift we hold dear to our hearts,” said the club’s head of charities, Jo Behr.
Some of the beneficiaries of the project include The Association for the Aged (TAFTA), which caters to hundreds of elderly residents, as well as the Bill Buchanan Association For The Aged and The Natal Settlers Memorial Home.
Nicolette Modicka, a senior manager at TAFTA, said many of the elderly struggle to keep themselves ‘well-groomed and glowing with confidence’ as they often run out of toiletries before the month is over.
“Its hard enough living without ‘luxuries’, but when poverty strips you of your dignity, it makes you feel like giving up on life. The most important thing you well be giving is the gift of dignity – enabling an impoverished elderly man or woman to hold his or her head high again,” she said.
“Older people will put up with a lot – aches and pains, tea without milk and bread without jam, being parted from loved ones who’ve moved overseas, but one thing they cant recover from is the loss of dignity,” she added.
“While we are currently focusing on the elderly, we also plan to donate some of the bags to various needy children’s homes,” said Behr. In addition to toiletries, the club has also appealed to donations of cotton fabric for the bags.
Every year, the club hosts several events to raise funds used to support 50 organisations within the greater Durban area, including the Animal Anti-Cruelty League, CHOC, Highway Hospice, and Durban Child and Youth Care Centre.
- Contact Jo on behr@mweb.co.za or 083 326 6634 and Pam Pace on pampace@mweb.co.za or 083 251 3722.
Some of the toiletries that can be donated include:
– 250ml petrolium jelly
– Soft toothbrushes
– Toothpaste
– Bath soap
– Talcum powder
– Body lotion
– Facecloths
– Disposable razors
– Shaving cream
– Shampoo and conditioner
– Toilet paper
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Keeping the elderly young at heart
Elderly honoured in Durban North
