IMAGINE the smiles and happy faces of 1 180 children.
Next week imagination will become reality when Wilma Jurgensen alongside Port Alfred Child Welfare’s senior social worker and manager Susan Harty will deliver 1 180 beautifully knitted teddy bears and toys to underprivileged pre-school children in the Port Alfred, Nemato and Station Hill vicinity.
Harty has identified 1 150 children to be recipients’ of the toys, and the surplus will be given to the trauma centre.
A toy or a teddy bear gives a child a sense of comfort even when times are tough. Some of these children may go to bed hungry, some may have difficult situations have home, but every child needs a toy they can love and what they can call their own, said Jurgensen.
The teddy bears were knitted by women of Port Alfred or who have strong ties to Port Alfred and each toy cost less than R20 to make. This year, Jurgensen said her team approached the Methodist Church, Anglican Church, Coffee Club and Minister’s Fraternal but somehow news spread and people heard about it from everywhere.
“I’m overwhelmed – 99% of people who did this never knitted a toy in their life,” Jurgensen said.
According to Jurgensen one lady in Settlers Park Retirement Village knitted 100 by herself and another more than 80 bears.
A humbled Jurgensen expressed her gratitude for all who took part in this project. “The response is overwhelming. This is not about me. This is about the women of Port Alfred who took it to heart and went crazy,” she said.
