Keeping chill from children this winter

For the fourth consecutive year, Med-Lemon is running its winter campaign: an income-generation scheme that pays the community to knit scarves which, in turn, are distributed to needy township children to keep them wrapped up warmly during the cold months. Caring women in three Gauteng communities - Orange Farm, Diepsloot and Alexandra - as well as in Delft and Mfuleni in the Western Cape, begin their knitting extravaganza this month of May 2008. Each community will produce 1500 scarves, aiming for an impressive total of 7500, which will be distributed in late June or early July.

The campaign is run in conjunction with MaAfrika Tikkun, a community organisation working with impoverished communities and caring for vulnerable people such as orphans, the elderly and people affected by HIV/AIDS. MaAfrika Tikkun helps to identify areas in need of assistance, after which the Med-Lemon team then provides wool and knitting needles at participating community centres. Med-Lemon pays knitters R40 per scarf, while MaAfrika Tikkun manages the knitting operation on the ground.

“Med-Lemon® is proud to have reached the four-year mark with this campaign to keep South Africa warm,” says Craig Doré, Marketing Director for Consumer Healthcare (O.T.C) at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). “As a household name in winter comfort and care, Med-Lemon is all too aware of how winter affects South Africans who are literally left out in the cold. Our ... campaign is a chance to support the communities that trust our brand and reach out to keep disadvantaged children snug during the winter chill,” he concludes.