Christmas blessings for 100 children
The trees are placed at Thirsty Whale, Gisselle's Kitchen, Braai and Lawaai and SoPro Branding and design.
Hoping to add festive cheer to little ones and their families is John Matney, 37, who will distribute Christmas gifts to those who need a helping hand.
“Due to the pandemic, there couldn’t be any events and we noticed that a lot of people lost their jobs. The economic impact is serious and we wanted to make sure that children had a good Christmas.”
John fondly recalled a time in his childhood when his family could not afford gifts when a generous person left a bag of Christmas presents at his front door.
“I want to make sure that children in the area have a Christmas to remember and the families have a nice Christmas meal. Times are tough and we want to make a difference. Christmas Blessing Tree is part of the Faith Baptist Church, Winklespruit, and we partner with Operation Bobbi Bear, Wanderers Haven and various non-profit organisations.”
The names on the gift tags belong to children and people can take the tags and buy a gift for the child accordingly.
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“We ask that they spend no more than R300 to ensure that all the children feel equally special. Once they buy the gifts and wrap them up, the tag is placed on the gift and dropped off at the tree when the tag was picked up. At the end of November, we have a Christmas party for all the children. We have jumping castles, games and food. Last year we also had a sponsor for school stationery and we hoping to donate again. Once the tags are all taken off, we place new ones that ask people to go to their local Spar or Pick n Pay to purchase an R100 food bucket which will be given to their families.”
The gifts are distributed to around 100 children.
“The community of Amanzimtoti has been incredible and have come together to make this work. We say thank you to the community. Thank you to the sponsors and the businesses that allow us to set up trees.”
The trees are placed at Thirsty Whale, Gisselle’s Kitchen, Braai and Lawaai and SoPro Branding and design.
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