It's cold and temperatures in June are barely reaching the one degree Celsius mark in the mornings. For those privileged enough, batting away the icy grip of winter is as easy as turning on a heater or adding an extra blanket on top a bed. However, for the residents living in the impoverished community of Madela Kufa Section 1 and 2 in Tembisa, the cold leads to hundreds of shack fires every winter with little refuge against the freezing temperatures.
"An appeal came through to Jacaranda 94.2 and Gift of the Givers to assist the community in keeping a little warmer this winter. With the station having already collected over 22 000 blankets by the end of May for its winter warmer campaign in partnership with Gift of the Givers, we set up a mission to help out the Madela Kufa community," says Alan Khan, CEO of Jacaranda 94.2
On the ground commitmentOn 9 June 2007, Jacaranda 94.2 staff, presenter Francois du Toit, Gift of the Givers, the South African Metro Police in Tembisa as well as councillor members of Ekurhuleni Ward 5 headed off to Madela Kufa. "The experience of reaching out to this community was extremely humbling," Khan comments. "The gratitude of receiving the new blankets was as if we had given them heaters. With songs of happiness and dance enactments of excitement, the community was singing for joy with the arrival of the blankets to help them guard off the chilly winter weather."
Jacaranda 94.2 spent over three hours with the community speaking to them about the winter warmer campaign, socialising with the young and old and enjoying the Hlabelela Ensemble and Tswelopele Performing Artists that could've rivalled the Soweto Gospel Choir in their performances to celebrate the upliftment of the human spirit.
In addition, Jacaranda 94.2 has donated thousands of blankets to various charities in its footprint encompassing Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. "We will continue to encourage our listeners to donate new blankets to our winter warmer campaign as there are many people out there suffering from the cold,” he says.
“Jacaranda 94.2 will ensure that each blanket reaches its intended recipients. We'd also like to thank all those who have selflessly given to our campaign in an effort to outreach to those less fortunate."
