Charity begins at home but should not end there. VoW FM has taken the adage to heart with its winter project to collect warm clothes for the needy.
The clothes collected will be donated to Wits students in need before being sent anywhere else, said Lucky Mdaweni, VoW marketing manager and coordinator of the project.
Mdaweni said that to protect the identity of the students the clothes would be taken to Wits Volunteering, who would then discreetly distribute them. “If there are students who are not worried about approaching us directly, they are welcome to do so.”
Last year’s collection was sent to Trinity House to be distributed to the homeless.
Mdaweni said they started collecting clothes towards the end of March and would stop at the end of May.
“We meant to stop collecting at the end of April but there was a great demand to supply clothes so we have extended the collection period,” he said.
VoW teamed up with the CCDU, Wits Volunteering and Silly Buggers in their project so that the whole Wits community could be involved.
Asked why the charity project was only carried out in winter when people needed clothing throughout the year, Mdaweni said VoW planned to expand its charity projects, which would see more being done during other seasons.
Remember and Give (Rag) is also collecting clothing, blankets and tinned food.
Urban and regional planning honours student Kwanele Ngwenya said last year Rag donated items to refugees living at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg.
“The conditions there were appalling, so we spent the day cleaning and playing with the kids.”
Rag has not yet decided where this year’s donations will go, but Ngwenya said it was likely that they would go to the Methodist Church again “to keep the relationship going”.
Ngwenya said Rag planned to have charity events often and encouraged Witsies not to wait for drives but to always be prepared to give to the needy whenever they could.
