Birchleigh family’s Christmas lights light up charity
Five mini trucks were filled with contributions from the community.
The true spirit of giving and caring was shown through the recent acts of a Birchleigh family.
Nicole and Craig Gammage opened their hearts and home to the community to come and view their Christmas light collection.
“Every year people come around to see our lights so we decided to do things differently. We invited people again but asked them to bring something for charity,” said Craig.
“We also thought to make it an event by closing off the road.”
Pierneef Street was closed off and indeed people came out in numbers to view the Christmas lights and support the initiative.
“The guards counted over 500 people on the night and that translated to a lot of toys, non-perishable food items and children’s toys and nappies to mention a few,” said Nicole.
“It really was amazing to see how much people contributed. We managed to fill five mini-trucks.”
The event was sponsored by Techtonic Stone which contributed R15 000.
“My sister and business partner, Tracey Venter, and I came together and we used money from the company to help make this a success. We organised reflector jackets, entertainment for children and food stalls,” explained Craig.
Tracey agreed with Craig and said: “We were happy that all our staff helped. We brought in wired cars, hired toilets, organised marshals and security in an effort to help make this a success.”
Craig and Nicole have been collecting the lights for six years and managed to organise the event in two weeks.
“We wanted everyone in the community to enjoy it and be part of a good cause. We spent two days sorting out the items donated, as people kept bringing more, even those who couldn’t make it to the event.
“We donated it to Kempton Park Child Welfare and Spreading The Love, a non-profit organisation and baby home in Pretoria.”
Express was also at the drop-off at child welfare and staff at the society spent a good 30 minutes taking in the items, which was proof of the many items collected through the initiative.
Tracey, Nicole and Craig told Express they hoped to host another event next year.
“This was the first time and it was a success with more people than we expected attending. We already had people calling asking if we were going to do the same thing next year. If we could get sponsors we could try and do it again for a second time going bigger and better,” said Nicole.
The event was not only supported by Kemptonians. People from Germiston, Pretoria and some from as far as Vereeniging also attended.
“We all say thank you to the community for accommodating us for closing the road. Our neighbours were very understanding and helpful,” said Craig.
“We were touched because we had organised a clean-up crew for the next day but, to our surprise, the street was clean as our neighbours cleaned it up. There was only one bottle I picked up the next day. People cleaned up after themselves which was amazing.”
Blood and Blood and Mustangs Motorcycle Clubs were also among those present.
