A school bag donation drive, called “I’ve got your bag!” that was organised by a non-profit organisation, Hands of Love is appealing to good samaritans to donate pre-loved (second-hand) or new school bags to less privileged children in South Africa.
Hands of Love, which was founded in 2021 by former Plumstead resident, now residing in Johannesburg with the aim of enabling school children in poverty-stricken communities to return to school with dignity and pride.
The majority of school children in disadvantaged communities are walking kilometers every day just to get to school. They don’t have backpacks to carry their heavy books in and are using Shoprite plastic bags to and from school.”
“I just felt that I needed to do more. There so many organisations (most of them not registered) doing incredible work in their communities through feeding schemes and other donation drives and, I wanted to be part of that – I want to make a difference in the lives of others,” says Catherine Versfeld.
When the school bag donation drive was first initiated, Hands of Love received the full support of DigiCape and have received multiple donations from loving parents as well as from an anonymous donor who donated over 30 brand new school bags at the Voice of the Cape Radio drop-off point in Salt River.
“Without the help of these businesses and schools, that were willing to sign up to be a drop-off point in Cape Town, we would not have been able to collect as many school bags as we have,” says Versfeld.
If you have children or know of children who have school bags that they are no longer using, please arrange to drop them off with Hands of Love. You can bring pre-loved school bags to one of Hands of Love’s drop-off points, and they will distribute them at school to children in need.
Drop off points in Cape Town can be found here: https://www.handsoflove.org.za/school-bag-drop-off/
The project closes on Monday, January 31. The next drive that Hands of Love is in the process of planning is called Read to Succeed, where the organisation will collect books to help stop illiteracy in South African schools.
To find out how you can get involved with Hands of Love, visit www.handsoflove.org.za or support the organisation by sharing their appeals on Facebook (@HandsofLoveSA) to help spread the word to your friends and family who might want to donate school bags.
Also Read:
Picture: Hands of Love Facebook