67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day celebrates first birthday
Almost one year ago, on January 27, we officially launched 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. On that auspicious occasion, we had absolutely no idea the journey we would be embarking on!
Instead of making 67 blankets (which is what I was hoping for!) we made over 6000 blankets by Mandela Day (July 18)! And that was in South Africa alone!
Little did we all know that we would become an international “movement”, represented in so many countries around the world. We went into schools, townships, orphanages, hospitals, old aged homes. We even went to prison!! We officially launched 67 Blankets at Zonderwater Correctional Services about a month ago – and the story was picked up by about 1000 international publications on December 5!
We beat giant corporations Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, KFC and Knorr for the coveted CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR – after being in existence for just 9 months! And all this with no bank account. We trade purely in wool, or as my husband says: “My baby, you trade in “good-wool”.
We were beyond lucky to have had the platform of our local soap opera GENERATIONS (with a viewership of 10 million a night) – with 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day woven into the storyline. Total strangers have come up to me on the street asking where they can drop off their hand made blanket!
And so, dear KnitWits for Madiba, we will celebrate our birthday on the 27th of January from this day forth!
Create something special on this day. A birthday party of sorts. This could be a special blanket handover event, a knitathon or what ever you would like it to be to mark the occasion.
Remember that we are working towards making an international statement with our attempt to break a world record with the most blankets made, in April. We will place (hopefully) 21 000 blankets at the feet of the statue of Nelson Mandela and cover the grounds of the Union Buildings in a SEA of colour. An aerial photograph of this will show the world what we are doing, stitch by stitch, to keep Madiba’s legacy alive.
Together we are making history. Together we are weaving the fabric our rainbow nation together with colourful thread. Together we pledge to keep thousands upon thousands of people warmer over all the winters to come in the name of our beloved Nelson Mandela.
Let’s celebrate our achievement on our birthday this coming January 27.
Onwards and KnitWards!
In Gauteng, we will convene for a celebration once again at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton at 5.30 pm on Tuesday, January 27.
This will be a perfect opportunity to bring your completed blanket that we will display at the Union Buildings in April in our attempt to break the world record.
The entrance fee – as usual – is a single bed size blanket (150 x 180 cm). If you do not manage to complete a blanket by then, you can bring wool to the value of R300 which will enable you to join the festivities.
There will be some special entertainment lined up for you as well as drinks and snacks.
Find out more at: www.67blankets.co.za