Read more HERE

Links to other distributions and news during the past month

DAVEYTON DISTRIBUTION (part one)

and a sweet little extra

LITTLE GLORIA

We really appreciate the wonderful response from members to help KAS provide a stipend sum in order retain the services of Thomas, who has become very much Ronda's right-hand man!

Here is Thomas in action with the camera on 17th July at the office, and, next day - Mandela Day, that blanket is wrapped around a child in need!

Thomas is currently paid Rand250 ($18.82 or £14.32) for each day he works, usually around 3 days per week, although if an extra day of distributions takes place then he will be covered for that time. Ideally Ronda would like to increase his payment to R300 ($22.58 or £17.18) to retain his services. Thomas collects the parcels from the Post Office on Mondays takes them to the office, then on Tuesday helps with the unloading, opening of parcels and photographing incoming blankets, in addition to collecting and returning Wandi, Lindi and Nani to Soweto! He also helps with distributions and collecting blankets from the gogos.

We have decided to keep the appeal going for one more month as you will see from the graph below just how popular it is, and, as it is the holiday season, we are sure that quite a few members will not want to miss a chance to support him!

Thank you to those who are donating monthly. 

Thank you as well to those who have started a monthly donation. 

Monthly subscriptions are helpful in budgeting and keeping KAS viable. 

One time donations and Shop purchases are also important ways to fund KAS. With the ongoing support from members, KAS will continue to bring comfort and warmth to ‘our’ children.

KAS Finances

Thank you everyone who responded to Ronda's appeal for more cuddly toys - it worked! As Ronda says, these toys often become a child's only personal toy and brings them much comfort. Whilst the children will queue up patiently for their blankets, hats and hand-warmers - the squeals of delight create pandemonium with the appearance of a sack containing all your treasured toys - be they made or purchased!

And here are some more contained in a parcel from Croatia - which we hope will arrive very soon!

Just as our yarn stashes continue to grow and grow, so do our members on the Forum. 

Welcome to these crafters:

A day in the life of the KAS package, blankets, beanies, hand-warmers and soft cuddly toy, has not really changed much in the ten years that KAS has been operating. In this chapter we will take a different approach to presenting the material, as it will not be chronicled historically, but be more information about the life of the needy children. We are sad to say that not much has changed in 10 years for the children that KAS serves. 

A visit to the twins, Lerato and Tebogo

To read more of this chapter, click on the link below :

THE KAS STORY - CHAPTER 6 link

SQUARES LIST

The June 2018 Squares List is available.

Because of the heavy workload for the small KAS Team, hats, hand-warmers and toys will not be recorded anymore, but please keep sending them because they are desperately needed. In the 2018 Squares List the names of the senders, number of parcels and number of squares will be recorded.

Please fill in the Packing Slip completely - it really helps the team.

 

The focus for 2018 and for some time to come will stay as is:

Squares for blankets, hats, hand-warmers and cuddly soft toys.

To see more details, please click [HERE]

MONTHLY TOTALS

In June we received 11.352 squares, equal to 324 blankets.

In total 77.657 Squares, equal to 2.218 Blankets!

A Peek Into the Archives

In July 2014 we visited two day-care centers – Vukuzenzele and Zenzele.  I looked up the meaning of these names and there are a few variations, but my favourite one I have used as the headline for this report.  Some of the others included:

“To make something out of nothing”

“To do it yourself”

“To wake up and do it yourself”

All of these aptly describe so many of the day-care centers that we visit, groups of people who come together and make do with the little they have, in order to make a difference in the lives of these precious children.

Read more here

Do view more of the creative approaches members took with this months Theme. Diana D created a wonderful range of hand-warmers based on the National Flags of various countries. Several members used their lovely PJ's to add motifs to encourage counting, or, learning from the colours.

The Wonder of Learning page link

It is not warm - Linda, Wandi and Nani inside the KasBarn with their outdoor clothing on!

The floor was too cold for Tango (Leanne's Guide Dog) and he found a vacant chair!

Sadly the postal service was hit with a two-week long strike, during which KAS received no parcels from the central sorting office! Now the strike is officially over Ronda says the Bryanston Post Office staff will do everything they can to ensure that KAS parcels will be ready for Thomas (and the KasVan) next week!

Which is excellent news as the shelves are extremely in need of a refill!

Sorted in Africa link here

Here is a blanket sewn by Ronda - who describes it in the following manner : Ha Ha ... a blanket I managed to sew together while I was languishing in bed, during March this year.  It is NO masterpiece, I'm not sure I should even be sending it to you !!!

There are 6 pages of blankets to enjoy this month !

Blanket Room link

Leanne reports about the Mandela Day in South Africa on July 18 - which was the 100th anniversary of Mandela's birth.

"Wandi is taking 200 sets of blankets, beanies, hand-warmers and toys to 6 different creches in Orange Farm today. Incidentally, the fact that she can do this is rather a miracle because our shelves have been empty for a month. We worried that we wouldn't have enough stock to meet the need, but thankfully the gogo groups came through for us and completed a large supply of blankets which Lindi and Thomas collected last week. It's been a case of instant turnaround which creates some pressure, but at least we're not sitting on stock during the coldest months of the year!"

And so much more - Leanne is our reporter of events in the KasBarn and elsewhere, please visit the link below, or click on KasBlog on the menu bar on the main page of the forum.

That Warm Fuzzy Feeling link

You need to be a member of Square Circle Forum to add comments!

Join Square Circle Forum

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Thank you Pam, for a wonderful edition of Snippets! xo

    • Thank you for another GREAT read, Pam.

      The information regarding Thomas is much appreciated......he really is essential to Ronda and the continuing operations of KAS. Knowing a target for his stipend is essential, I think. He does an awful lot for what he is given.

This reply was deleted.