SEDIBENG.- The Annual Children’s Celebration is a tradition of the Fund, started by its founder, former president, Nelson Mandela, who celebrateed his birthday on 18 July with children, during and post his presidency.
The day is now famously known as International Mandela Day.
Interim CEO of the Fund, Dr Stanley Maphosa, says “Madiba loved children and wanted to ensure that as a society, we could take a moment to bring joy to their lives and celebrate them so they can feel appreciated in spite of the many challenges that they face in our country.”
After two years of disruptions due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fund could not host mass celebrations and is cautiously approaching this year’s event with a similar approach but some aplomb. Maphosa continues, “We thought launching a Children’s Fun Walk would be a great way to get our beneficiaries, in particular children and youth, as well as our stakeholders and donors, to come out again and have fun in public spaces following two years of confinement as a result of the pandemic.”
The theme of the event is, “Walking the extra mile so vulnerable children do not have to.” The route will include a 5-kilometre fun walk within the zoo to allow our stakeholders to experience the significance of walking for a good cause. In addition to the great achievements of the Fund’s existence, its flagship project, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital (NMCH) celebrates five years of existence as the only dedicated children’s hospital in Gauteng. Maphosa says, “This is a key milestone for both organisations and we wanted to commemorate this anniversary as part of the work of the Fund and NMCH”.
To limit numbers, it has been decided to make this a closed event which will involve stakeholders and beneficiaries of the Fund. However, the organisation still encourages the public to get involved in other ways.
“We use this event annually to respond to the needs of vulnerable children. The public can get involved by visiting our website and contributing in various ways by becoming ambassadors of the event and spreading the word or helping us raise in-kind and cash donations which form part of our wish-list (https://www.nelsonmandelachildrensfund.com/ ). These will then be distributed to our various implementing partners in need across South Africa,” concludes Maphosa.
