You don’t have to rent the city hall or bankroll a major event to make a meaningful contribution to Nelson Mandela Day.
Since Nelson Mandela’s big 90th birthday bash in London’s Hyde Park in 2008, his birthday on 18 July has become a day dedicated to his life’s work and to ensuring his legacy continue. To mark the 67 years Madiba gave to fight for human rights, the Mandela Day campaign asks that we all give just 67 minutes of our time to support a charity or the local community and make a meaningful contribution.
Here are some suggestions of things anyone can do to salute Madiba and his legacy:
- Buy some blankets or take ones you don’t need, clean out your cupboard of clothes you no longer wear and donate these to someone who can use them.
- Pool resources with some friends or colleagues and put together food parcels for needy families.
- Organise a clean-up team and clean up the neighbourhood, a local beach, sports ground, river or park.
- People in poorer areas often don’t have the means to beautify their neighbourhoods. Donate some indigenous trees and liaise with a community to help them to plant it.
- Money is always tight for charities and the upkeep of their buildings and infrastructure often has to take a backseat to more pressing priorities. Volunteer your time and donate the resources to do repairs and paint work for a charity.
- The elderly are often frail and no longer able to do the things they used to do. Offer to help someone to fix things around the house and/or do repairs and paint jobs.
- Organise a toy collection among friends, family and colleagues and take the toys to the children’s ward of the local hospital.
- Offer your skills or professional expertise to do pro bono work for a cause, charity or person in need.
- Help someone to get a job by helping them to put together a CV and to prepare for the interview.
- Donate your old text or other books to a local or school library.
Sources
www.mandeladay.com
www.timeanddate.com
(Revised by M van Deventer)