True charity: Not knowing the recipient

GEORGE NEWS - Over fifty black refuse bags filled with plastic bottles were neatly packed in the corner of the auditorium in the George Civic Centre where the first meeting of the new 2018 Junior City Council (JCC) was held on Monday 22 January.

The JCC council members collected plastic bottles over the December holiday to support George Child and Family Welfare's (GCW) "Blossoms for Buddy" recycling fundraising project.

The project uses the plastic to make flower bouquets that are sold to raise funds for GCW Buddy projects.

Newly elected George Junior Mayor Lené Conradie from Outeniqua High School thanked her fellow councillors for making the effort in holiday time.

"To be involved in the Blossoms project is the purest form of charity work, as we do not know who the beneficiaries will be, we simply collected for the cause," she said.

From left are newly elected JCC members Meagan Fay Friesloor (PW Botha College), Jusein Yane (York High), Adrienne Vercueil and Kayla Horeman (Glenwood House), Nikita Labuschagne and Tinus Botes (Outeniqua High), Nicole Philander and Ehsanal-Lee Booysen (Parkdene High).

When organising the collection, Conradie was inspired by the success and tenacity of 9-year-old Talia van Rensburg, a Grade 4 learner from George South Primary, who roped in family and friends and has collected enough plastic bread tags and bottle tops for six wheelchairs so far.

The 'Tops & Tags' initiative allows the recycling of plastic bottle tops and bread tags in exchange for wheelchairs.

The driving force of the JCC, from left: Junior City Council Deputy Mayor Christel Smook, Junior Mayor Lené Conradie (both from Hoërskool Outeniqua), Cllr Liza Stroebel and municipality youth development coordinator Jonel Kerspuy.

A wheelchair is one of the most commonly used assistive devices for enhancing personal mobility, yet thousands of South Africans remain bed-ridden, relying on family members to carry them around, or turn to unsafe and uncomfortable home-made alternatives.

George Junior Councillors with the plastic bottles collected during the December holidays. In front, from left are Robyn Franklin, Megan Bartels and Anika Hofmeister (Glenwood House) and Caitlyn Fiegaland, Janneal Booysen and Cheslyn Gilbert (George High). Back: Monique Barnard, Riansha Kotzé and Henry van Wyk (PW Botha College) and Gerhard Ackerman, Christel Smook and Junior Mayor Lené Conradie (Outeniqua High).