Riebeeck Village children and elderly shown love through parade
Children were given sweet packets while the elderly were given biscuits during Riebeeck Village Christmas Parade.
A caring and thoughtful Van Riebeeck resident, Louise Zinn, organised yet another Christmas parade at the village.
As the temperatures dropped in the late afternoon, Santa and his two elves began their parade around the village.
“I started the parade four years ago when my husband was attacked and it made me realise the stress everyone goes through on a daily basis, especially our children,” said Zinn.
“I decided to do this to give children and the elderly something to look forward to.”
While the children received sweet packets, the elderly were given biscuits that were much appreciated.
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“This is really wonderful. There are no words to explain and show appreciation for the joy that fills our children’s hearts because of such acts and such people. This is really special and we are truly grateful for these selfless acts,” said Katinka Steyn, one of the community members.
An interesting and special addition to the parade was the Kempton Park Pipe Band that got residents’ attention and applause.
Children from Villa Lathemba were also part of the parade and were thrilled to receive goodies from Santa.
“I invited a couple of children’s homes in the area to join us but only Villa Lathemba from Van Riebeeck Park was able to attend,” said Zinn.
“We don’t work on a specific number of packets. We just continue making packets until the donations are finished. We hand out in the village and if there is anything left we take it to Danville Liggiehuis in Pretoria, where they hand it to the less fortunate as part of their Christmas handout.
“The community in the village give us donations in the form of sweets, cookies or money and we make the packets.”
The parade was a success and some of the residents loved what they saw so much they decided to hop into their vehicles and join the parade to help spread the Christmas cheer.
Johan Burmeister helped lead the pipe band while Rudi Botes from MML Security assisted with controlling traffic throughout the entire parade.
“Thank you to everybody for supporting the parade and ensuring it became the success it was. Together we can do more and spread love,” concluded Zinn.
