The Rotary club of Jeffreys Bay and Spirals Studio have started a project where children are encouraged to collect, sort and deliver “recyclable junk” to a central point and exchange it for tokens.
They can then use the tokens to “shop” in an associated shop for toiletries, food, clothing, school supplies and books.
The materials collected are sold to local recycler, Green Guardian. Money earned this way, pays for about 30 percent of stock in the shop. Local businesses and individuals are invited to contribute by way of donations for the shop stock.
The benefits from this project are numerous; it cleans up our environment, empowers the kids to get what they need by using what is available, teaches the children to look at rubbish in a different way, the value of recycling, shopping and counting skills and deliver much needed support in a value for value concept rather than old fashioned hand-outs.
Last year KAS supplied 100 blankets and 250 hats for the Swap Shop - which were snapped up by the children within a few hours. As a result, the Stitch Witch Group developed in order to provide blankets made and created by the local caring community!
Each week the children trade 2-3 tons of recyclable materials. Previously, we have included the weekly report in the Facebook for Sharing discussion page, but now feel it is time that it was in its true home - What's Going on in South Africa.
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More from JBay!
Some delayed pics from 25th November!
This boy knew he was getting his bicycle that day and was literally jumping up and down in line.
A huge THANK YOU to everybody who supported the Stitch Witches and the JBay Recycling Project in 2013 Watch this space! We will be adding new items to be knitted for our young recyclers in the next couple of days
In the spirit of Madiba! Thank you Pick n Pay, Jeffreys Bay. R5000.00 donated yesterday to the JBay Recycling Project. Alison and Tanja receiving the cheque from Charl and Paligh. Maybe we will be able to buy school shirts and socks for the children for the new school year!
Congratulations to the wonderful Stitch Witches and the JB Recycling Project for a fantastically successful year. You are certainly making a difference to the lives of so many children in so many ways. :))
Thank you, Pam for keeping us updated throughout the year. :))
This week was the final JBay trading day for 2013 - as well as the fabulous teddies, the Goodie Bags contained one activity book, crayons and cookies! Also the day produced some fabulous photographs!
Lovely knitted bags from Carol!
The Goodie Bags arriving!
The Goodie bags, so lovingly prepared!
What a cheeky grin - future comedian maybe?
InFood Jeffreys Bay supply a wonderful lunch, plus a tasty treat!
Mrs. Ndzombana takes a break!
What's this in the goodie bag?
Gerrie van Tonder finds a 'teeny weeny' shopper!
A new dress maybe!
He has been working hard to collect that lot!
Think this young lady is a 'pink' type of girl!
These two guys are not camera shy!
The 'teeny weeny' is a very confident shopper!
This is your bag of goodies!
Gerrie says he is such a joy in the line!
Every photo tells a story of hope and love and the simple joy that comes with giving.. it is also a lesson to the children that its also good to give.. even if that which is given is something normally thrown away.. show that ones persons trash is another persons treasure .. in this case the child receives the treasure for trash... what a great way to clean up and at the same time give the children a sense of earning .. comes in handy for the future .. What a wonderful lot of goodies that was given by so many.. I just love the little knitted bags and the wonderful teddies.. this lot of photos really made my day today..
Lovely! Some of the children have been very busy, especially the little boy with the big clear plastic bag that is about 4 times larger than he is!
Good to see that the children all seem confident about what they want, even the little girl who looks to only be about 3 years old, (but may of course be older and just small for her age).
The goodie bags all look so pretty too (with the decorations on the bags). Do schools in SA have holidays around Christmas time? If so the colouring books and crayons will keep the children well entertained for the time.
Love how all the children smile so much, must be a day they look forward to though, trading their recyclables for goodies! Fun to browse and see what you might like to take home.
I agree, what a wonderful series of pictures...so much happiness to go around. When loving hearts start giving it just keeps going and going. I am still so happy about the angel/s that made 60 teddy bears! Wow. These photos are sure a tonic. Talk about making me feel grateful for what I've got. I love that tiny little one...even my husband commented on her. It's so good to see them get food, treats, books...I'm just feeling happy right now, really glad to be able to see good things happening. Thank you Pam for another great posting!
That is a lovely series of photos. The teeny weenie shopper is delightful ! The goodie bags is a wonderful idea and so exciting for the kids, and those marvellous bears which are pretty big ! I enjoyed Miss Pink too, girls the world over eh?
Thanks for the weekly update Pam :) There are some teddy bear pics I haven't seen yet :D
What a special day the children would have had. So lovely to see.
25th November - thisMonday was extremely hot, but 236 kids traded 1.523 tons of recyclable material.
Smile will you wait!
Balls from Rotary - they flew out of the shop!
Busy team!
Oops, think my sole is coming off very soon!
Stitch Witch blankets - to hot for buyers today! Nina's rolls - very much loved by the kids!