Informal settlement fire: A city opens its heart
Donations other than clothing are still welcome at the Bonaero Park NG Church.
Today at 4pm is the last day for clothing donations for the victims of the Max Informal Settlement fire to be dropped off at Bonaero Park NG Church.
However, other donations such as toiletries and non-persihable food can still be brought to the church on Malpensa Street, said Rev Deon Holtzhausen.
Two days after the tragedy, volunteers from all over Kempton Park working at the church, are barely keeping head above water with donations streaming in.
A coordinator of the project, Elayne Henderson, said she was flabbergasted by the amount of goodwill from the community of Kempton Park.
“I might cry, because it’s been an emotional wave over us all as we’ve seen how the people of South Africa come together when tragedy strikes.”
Mountains of clothes, shoes and hampers could be seen in all the rooms at the church where various sorting stations had been up.
“With all due respect, we don’t want to give recognition to anybody in particular for fear of leaving someone out. Let’s just give thanks to all the South Africans who helped those affected so harshly,” said Henderson
Kemptonians have donated everything from nappies, toiletries, fabric softener, canned goods, and even empty containers that will come to the aid of those who lost most of their belongings.
One volunteer said they started at 8am and worked until 11pm separating, sorting and compiling the items into various hampers, depending on different needs.
A station of busy-bodies making sandwiches worked in front of the multiple racks of bread that have been donated by a commercial producer. The sandwiches they make are packaged and sent to the informal settlement on Great North Road, where most residents preferred to stay.
Henderson said once hampers were ready to go, volunteers with bakkies transported it to the site, where it was haded over to designated officials.
According to William Ntladi, spokesperson for Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services, officials from Gift of the Givers are assisting with the task of disseminating the goods that have been donated. This is to avoid any potential havoc from occurring during the hand-out process.
Items still required include empty buckets for water, toiletries, protein-based foods, pots for cooking purposes and bags of maize.
