Each year, Charity Begins With Me hosts a big Christmas party and gifts thousands of books to the children from the local informal settlement.
Johannesburg, South Africa (26 August 2022) – Christmas is not so far away, and organisations working towards gifting people gifts are now rallying supporters and volunteers to prepare for the events. Charity Begins With Me gives children books as gifts each year to encourage reading and a love of books.
Each year, the organisation works towards gifting thousands of books. Reading is an essential part of learning, but many children only ever read when they are in the classroom. Stephen Ferreira has started collecting children’s books to help nurture a love of reading in the community he is working to uplift.
Stephen Ferreira started ‘Charity Begins With Me‘ shortly after he was first diagnosed with cancer in 2016. He realised he could do so much more with the life he had left and quickly set up the charity as a way to give back. He ran the charity throughout his chemotherapy treatments, remission and, sadly, his relapse. Whatever battles he faces in his own life, it is those of others that give him the strength to push through.
He explained that preparing for the charity’s annual party takes around three months and many helping hands. Each year, he focuses on collecting children’s books that are wrapped and gifts those.
“It usually takes me three months to get ready for our township Christmas party as we hand out thousands of gifts each year.
This year we are starting early and because so many people have asked we are yet again doing our massive book project.
Christmas is not always a festive time and many children from informal settlements will not be getting a gift this year.
I want to change that.Do you have second-hand children’s books you no longer use? Please wrap them and send them my way.
My goal is to collect 1000.”
The charity will be collecting books until the 30th of September 2022. To participate, you can help in several ways.
- Please don’t use fancy ribbons. These might look pretty but makes packing extremely difficult.
- Please include a small sticker at the back of the book to indicate whether this is for a boy/girl and the approximate age group. Please do not use PostIt notes, as these fall off easily. If you do not have stickers use a piece of paper and sellotape.
- Make sure your books are clean with no missing pages or writing on the pages. We want to make sure this is a special treat for the kids, and it won’t be fun if they get a worn-out old book.
- Please do not include any special messages inside the book.
- We can also use books for teenagers, but please make sure the content is appropriate. No adult themes, please. (You can also donate adult books for our next book sale fundraiser).
- If you are unsure, rather contact me and ask before you wrap.
- If you are too lazy to wrap but want to donate wrapping paper or sellotape, you are also most welcome to.
If you have nothing to donate but still want to help, Stephen needs help wrapping the books, so he welcomes any volunteers to make that happen.
The books give children the opportunity to read outside of school, so they can develop a love of it instead of feeling like it is work. Reading offers a great escape as well as opportunities to sit with loved ones and explore the pages of a book together.
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