Love Potch brings smiles to Vyfhoek Primary with recycled school shoe donation
Various role players in the community came together to create hope on a special day at Vyfhoek Primary.
Learners at Vyfhoek Primary were blessed this past week with 598 brand new school shoes made from recycled medical waste.
Love Potch organised the event at Vyfhoek Primary on Thuursday, July 23 that brought together various role players in the community to spread love in various ways.
The combined efforts of the Love Potch Running Team, Love Muldresdrift (Craig Rowe), NWU Health Sciences (Yolanda Stevens and her team), Rachem Wellness (Mariné Burger and her team) as well as the Mooirivier Mall resulted in an unforgrettable day filled with smiles and gratitude. The learners could not hide their excitement at getting brand new school shoes.
Craig Rowe, the partnership lead for Love Cities, was also at the event and shared his excitement for this project.
“I was so moved when the kids got their shoes. They were squealing with delight. Shoe poverty is major in South Africa. There a more than a million children without school shoes. This project aims to raise awareness and to create access to resources. Love Potch is part of 11 Love Cities across South Africa where e aim to make a difference.”
These school shoes are part of an initiative from My Walk Made with Soul, a movement from Adcock Ingram and Netcare that transforms discarded PVC (drip bags, oxygen masks and associated tubing) into brand new school shoes.
The heart of the event was also to give back to staff members and learners at Vyfhoek. Rachem Wellness set-up a free health screening facility, whilst the NWU Health Sciences and Recreation team hosted interactive outdoor games for the learners of various age groups.
“The funds for these shoes have been raised by our Love Potch running initiative. We have a bunch of Love Poch runners here today, we’ve been inspiring the children. It is impactful when a community comes together that we can truly impact the lives of others,” stated Love Potch founder and project manager, Arno van den Berg.
Love Potch would also like to invite all runners and non-runners to form part of their Love Potch Running Initiative that can contribute to providing children’s with school shoes. For each kilometer ran in a race, a child can get a new pair of shoes.
Contact Arno van der Berg at 076 571 8480 for more information.
