Mandela Day, July 18, celebrates the birthday of late President Nelson Mandela. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in 2009.
The Mandela Day message encourages people to use 67 minutes of their time to serve their community or support a charity of their choice. The 67 minutes symbolises the number of years the late president fought for human rights and the abolition of apartheid
In Bryanston, the Bryanston United Nursery School community collected food, warm clothes and blankets for the Fill the Love Jars Mandela Day initiative.
“Each time an item was donated the learners could put a heart in their poster love jar,” said the school’s Tess Marsh.
A trailer full of items was collected and will be handed out to the surrounding communities in need.
Over at St Stithians, the boys’ college community were encouraged to reach out to a family in need and send them a message of hope through a phone call or prayer. Various food donations were also collected and distributed to these families, the Berea and St Martin’s soup kitchens as well as many other organisations in the area.
At the girls’ preparatory school, Grade 4 learner Lilia du Plessis took on the message of Mandela Day and collected 209 squares knitted from her family and friends over the last two years. Lilia had the squares sewn into blankets, with the help of her grandmother, which she donated to the boys’ college’s Josh Foundation blanket drive.
At Redhill School in Morningside, learner Sean Finnemore went over and above. The Grade 5 learner packed and delivered 100 homemade-meals in a bag and 56 homemade muffins to Kids Haven over the Mandela Day weekend.
“This phenomenal young man was quietly determined to leave people better than he found them, and to do something positive for others,” said the school in a social media post.
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