830 tracksuits and counting for charity

NEARLY 1000 tracksuits have been sewn in this year’s track-a-thon, hosted online by Durban North residents, Joan Chalmers and Debbie Becker. The initiative began in 1998, when the duo joined forces to keep children warm in winter. While the track-a-thon was delayed this year by the Covid-19 pandemic, tracksuits for children aged two to 12, will be distributed through an NPO network to the coldest parts of KwaZulu-Natal, just in time for the Spring rains. 

“We haven’t stopped counting, we are heading toward 1000, so far we’ve counted 830 tracksuits,” said Becker. 

While this was the first online trackathon, Chalmers said it was such a success, the trackathon will be held virtually again next year. 

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“We will definitely be doing the track-a-thon virtually again next year, even if we host a one day event at a shopping centre as we have done in the past. It worked so well virtually, we had more control over it this way whereas with the one day-event, you don’t know what to expect. The plus side of the one day event is that we had people who sew for a living coming in and sewing on industrial machines which brought our tracksuit numbers up, but this way has definitely been more social and enjoyable,” Chamers

Grace Family Church has partnered with the track-a-thon to distribute tracksuits, said Dimitra Nicolau, who works at the church. 

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“We are so thrilled to be part of the track-a-thon and now to see all the tracksuits all packed and ready to go, we are excited to connect with our partners, we have selected a total of six NPOs based in some of the coldest parts of KZN. These are organisations we have partnered with for a long time and they are part of a network we frequently work with to meet needs on the ground. These organisations are connected with communities and they understand which families have a genuine need and will make sure the tracksuits get to those who really need them,” she said. 

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