THE annual trackathon will continue this year, albeit in isolation. Volunteers who have their own sewing machines are invited to collect pre-cut tracksuits that are ready to sew.
The initiative began in 1998, when Durban North residents, Joan Chalmers and Debbie Becker, joined forces to keep children warm in winter. The trackathon will culminate on 5 September, International Day of Charity, with a YouTube video featuring snippets of the sewing process.
Volunteers are invited to send 20 second silent clips of themselves at work. Chalmers hope to see 2000 tracksuits completed this year.
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“We haven’t got enough fabric for that, so we are still looking for donations of material. We started about 20 years ago in 1998. Once a year we get together and sew. In the year, 2000 we sewed 20 000 tracksuits at Gateway- that was part of the national event. This year it’s going to be virtual,” she said.
Becker, who owns Bernina in Durban North, said the sewing packs were ready for collection from her shop starting on Friday, 7 August.
“The tracksuits are already pre-cut, so they are very easy to sew together. We have a group of customers who are already very excited about the fact that we are going to be sewing tracksuits during this isolation period and we welcome any new sewers who would like to join us,” she said.
A video explaining how to make the tracksuits will be available on the Trackathon Facebook page. The video will also be shared to the Bernina page and the Grace Aid page.
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“We are planning to have a few ‘Facebook parties’ where people can connect and share ideas,” said Becker. The tracksuits will be distributed by Grace Aid, an NPO established by Grace Family Church, said Dimitra Nicolau who works at the church.
“We are sponsoring fabric and hoping some of our sewers, who come to the training, who are based in communities around Durban will also participate and volunteer to sew tracksuits.
We want to lend our support to all the amazing people around Durban who take time to invest in someone else.
The tracksuits will ultimately come back to us to be distributed through our NPO network with over 50 organisations across KZN. We will select three organisations situated in the coldest parts of the province to receive tracksuits,” she said.
Grace Aid was linked to the initiative through Becker who heads up the sewing training classes at the church.
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