Stephen Ferreira from Charity Begins With Me has been planning the annual Township Christmas party since late September, and preparing to give 1,500 children, a party to remember!
Johannesburg, South Africa (23 November 2023) – 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 a gift bag filled with books, sweeties, a toy, and a clothing item each year and prep for this year’s event is under way.
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 to prepare and many helping hands.
This year, Stephen is expecting a staggering 1,500 children to show up for the annual Christmas party. That means he needs to have enough to give each child a special gift alongside a filling meal. The Charity has been collecting various items which go into the gift bags.
They usually need the following so if you have these items at home, reach out to Stephen and help make his planning go faster.
- Large gift bags
- Sweets (Jelly beans, Wine Gums, Lollipops, Sour worms, Marshmallows, Liquorice All Sorts, Rascals, Mints, Jelly tots, Fruit Pastilles, Mentos – unfortunately, no chocolate as it melts beforehand)
- Age appropriate books
- Wrapping paper
- Second-hand or new toys
- Second-hand or new clothing items
- Apples, Bananas, Oranges and Sandwiches (individual ingredients welcomed too).
- Oros
- And helping hands will make packing go much faster.
All drop offs are in Fairland, JHB and only between 17h00 and 19h00 on the following days:
- 28 November 2023 (Tuesday)
- 30 November 2023 (Thursday)
- 1 December 2023 (Friday)
Please make arrangements to drop off the day before. You can grab Stephen’s contact details via the charity page here.