67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day celebrated their sixth year of knitting the country together in warm displays around the country by creating Magical Moments 4 Mandela.
Johannesburg South Africa – 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela’s Magical Moments took place on the 31st March 2019, where all blankets made this year were exhibited and laid out from simultaneously at various venues around the country.
This year’s event marks a record sixth year since the campaign was started and celebrated all the hard work, effort and kindness that “KnitWits for Madiba” around South Africa have put into making their blankets for this worthy cause.
Following the Magical Moments 4 Mandela, the blankets will be distributed to those in need, and this year the blankets will be delivered earlier to ensure that recipients are kept warm from the first chilly morning to the last late frost.
In Johannesburg, the blankets were laid at Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton at both the Nelson Mandela Statue and the newly unveiled 1m-tall replica of the Nelson Mandela Statue, which is located close to the original. The replica is modelled by the original artist and sculptor Kobus Hattingh and designed specifically to allow the visually impaired to experience the statue in their own way.
For this year 67 Blankets will be working closely with the Johannesburg Society for Blind.
The other gatherings took place in Cape Town, Pringle Bay, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Durban.
“This responds well to our effort to ensure that Mandela Day action is taken everyday. We are delighted that the 67 Blankets Initiative is collecting blankets early this year in preparation for the punishing winter”, says Yase Godlo” Mandela Day Manager at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“Such Acts of kindness are the reason were am in inspired to do more to impact positively towards people’s lives”, he added.
67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day invited all South Africans to join them to celebrate Nelson Mandela, and the crowds came out in droves.
“This is the sixth year we lay down our beautifully knitted and crocheted blankets. It is incredible to see how this movement has galvanised so many people and communities. Each blanket laid down in these exhibits is a visual reminder of the care and goodwill so many people from South Africa and around the world have for their fellow men and women. Stitch by stitch we keep the legacy of Madiba alive, bringing hope, comfort and warmth to others,” says Carolyn Steyn, founder of the 67 Blankets initiative.
She adds “We do not wait until Mandela Day in July to distribute blankets to those in need. We follow the lead from the Nelson Mandela Foundation to make every day a Mandela Day and respond to the needs of the people.”
Clothes and goods were also collected on the day to donate towards the victims of the Tropical Cyclone Idai and 67 Blankets arranged for Stuttafords Van Lines to deliver to Mozambique, this followed a call from Mrs Graca Machel to the founder 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day Carolyn Steyn asking for the organisation to assist!
Check out some of the awesome pics below:
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