It’s winter season and 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day already went all out to contribute in the best way they know.
Adding love and warmth to their skills of knitting and crocheting, the KnitWits for Madiba made hundreds of scarves for anyone who needs them. Ambassador for 67 Blankets, Annie Grealy, said the movement has been going since 2014. She added, “Every year around this time in winter, we do our secret scarf mission #SSS where, in and around the country at different spots, we tie scarves to trees in areas where people pass by when going home. Each scarf has a little tag that says ‘I am not lost. If you are cold and need me, please take me. Love, 67 Blankets xxx!’ written in all official languages.”
She added that they have spots in different provinces. In Gauteng, they’ve been in Brixton but found that Zoo Lake works a lot better as people come by, in a taxi, at the end of the day. On 8 July, they put up the scarves to share love and warmth with those who need it. “We put them up between 3pm and 4pm all around the country. Schools, people from all walks of life all over the country and ambassadors collect the scarves around this time and this is our handout day,” Grealy said. She added that, because of lockdown, a lot of people have been stuck indoors so they’ve been using this time to knit and crochet.
This has meant that they have been getting a lot more scarves and they even have their own brand-new 67 Blankets-branded wool which people are buying. The lockdown has also meant that many of the volunteers could not be reached to collect more scarves, so they’ve been giving them to orphanages, homes or displaced people.
Grealy said, “What’s different this year is that here in Johannesburg is that we’ve got masks attached. Those masks have all been made and donated by Capitec Bank. We probably have 400 to 500 scarves here today.”
Details: 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day www.67blankets.co.za
Are you taking part in any activities for Mandela Day? Share your projects by emailing naidines@caxton.co.za
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