67 Blankets

Now and again we wonder off the path of indigenous knowledge to look at some of the fantastic things taking place in our wonderful country. Sixty-Seven Blankets for Madiba Day is one such project that’s definitely worth taking a bit of time out to write about! The movement was started by Carolyn Steyn at the suggestion of Zelda le Grange, PA to the late (and great!) Nelson Mandela. Carolyn initially intended to make all of the blankets herself, but when she realised that she had set herself an unachievable task she reached out to her friends on Facebook for a bit of help, and the idea went viral! There are now ’67 Blanket’ groups all over the world, and Carolyn expects to receive thousands of blankets come the 1st July deadline.

If you want to do your bit to keep the underprivileged and the elderly warm this winter then why not get your knitting needles out now? There’s still time to make a blanket, and if you don’t have the wool or the resources to buy it the project is more than happy to sponsor you a bit of yarn. They’ll do anything to make people feel loved come this winter!

Blankets can be delivered to any Auto & General offices around the country so the project is open to any and all South Africans, but if you happen to be in Johannesburg this weekend you can also pop past the Joburg Theatre on Saturday afternoon to take part in the 67 Blankets Knitathon!

Go to Facebook and search for ’67 Blankets for Madiba Day’ to find out more about this wonderful South African initiative.