We should all be paying it forward, and these women are helping to set an example.
Megan from Beanies for Beings
Megan Alexis Botha, 53, is based in Northriding, Johannesburg. She founded Beanies for Beings, a non-profit organisation that found its roots in knitting for those in need.
“When I turned 46, I challenged myself to give back instead of receiving birthday gifts. So, I learned how to knit. With my loom-wielding partner in crime, Gary, I knitted 460 beanies and distributed them among organisations supporting the needy within my community.
As an only parent of four children, part of me knows what it’s like to be in need. A gesture as simple as gifting a warm beanie or a tin of soup can make all the difference to a vulnerable soul who is cold and hungry.
By June 2017, knitting for those in need was a passion project. We had loomed over 740 more beanies and donated our woolly works to local orphanages, churches and feeding schemes in the surrounding areas.
At that point, I knew knitting would only be the beginning of my journey to lend a helping hand. The call for aid in my community extended much further. Women in need of dignity packs, children going hungry, elderly in need of care and animals who didn’t have a voice to call for help.
Our charity grew organically from there. My involvement with the needy led me to frequently distribute donations from kind- hearted community members who wanted to help improve the lives of those who needed it most.
My retrenchment in August 2017 was the final push I needed to turn my commitment to my community into a purpose. After navigating that career blip, I registered Beanies for Beings as an NPO in May 2018.
We’ve been operating for six years and have helped hundreds of Johannesburg-based community members, from Cosmo City to Zandspruit, Lion Park, Video Informal Settlement, Kya Sands, Randpark Ridge and beyond. Beanies for Beings has outgrown its name and now flows through three primary channels: donations, outreach and the cosy knits that started it all.
Social media helps us make an impact, connecting vulnerable community members with volunteers and donors who go the extra mile to make a difference.
Currently, we’re involved with assisting struggling moms, uplifting schools and crèches, running a feeding scheme for more than 56 individuals, and assisting those who have fallen on hard times with whatever we have available – clothing, blankets, non-perishable food and toiletries.
Women’s and children’s plights are specifically close to our hearts. We do outreach work with women and children in shelters and safe houses and at victim support units at various police stations in Joburg.
Every month, we run two different crochet and donation projects within the community. Winter is our busiest period when it comes to knitting and crochet outreach. We donate hundreds of blankets, beanies, scarves, bed socks, and hand warmers to those who need them most.
For Child Protection Week in May, we donated 60 blankets, 60 teddies and 60 beanies to vulnerable kids in conjunction with Cosmo City SAPS. For Father’s Day, we donated beanies, scarves, toiletry hampers and meals of hope to community car guards. For Mandela Day this month, we distributed 100 baby packs to new moms in Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.
Every bit of help counts, no matter the occasion. If you are able to donate to organisations actively working to help vulnerable members of your community, winter is the best time to get involved. There are thousands of people in dire need of food and warmth. They need help.”
If you’d like to donate or volunteer for Beings with Beanies, email [email protected]
Cecilia from Ek n Jy
Cecilia-Leigh Mackay, 52, is based in Koringberg, Western Cape. Cecilia- Leigh co-founded Ek n Jy, a non-profit company with caring for the community at its core.
“I was born to a phenomenal half- Italian Catholic mom who taught me that community runs deep. Her principles and values were rooted in equality. Nobody is better than anybody else, and it takes a village. Growing with my community became my purpose when I moved from Cape Town to Koringberg 15 years ago.
I was the only English-speaking person in the village when my wife Natanya and I arrived. Despite being a stranger initially, I formed a close, natural connection with the Koringberg community because I am eccentric and outspoken.
It all started when Natanya and I befriended a remarkable local woman named Rosie de Klerk, 62, who became instrumental in our non-profit organisation. Back then, I frequently visited Rosie’s respected family home in the village when Natanya travelled for work. The more I frequented Rosie’s place, the more I saw how people struggled.
Having the means to do something positive within the small community we shared, Natanya and I made it a goal to enrich the lives of those around us.
We started where we could. At the time, Natanya worked for The Walt Disney Company, and we realised that by pulling a few strings, we could arrange sponsored products to donate to children in our community at Christmastime. We went the whole nine yards – I dressed up as Santa and loaded our bakkie with as many gifts and festive decorations as we could wrangle.
After this huge hit, we realised our efforts within the community could be even greater.
So, we partnered with a Path Onto Prosperity (POP) aftercare centre in the village, where children attending the crèche would visit after school to grab a sandwich, juice and fruit. We allied, providing every child in the village who visited the POP centre with a daily sandwich and a drink. We supply a monthly donation of bread, jam, peanut butter and juice.
These initiatives took off … and then Covid hit. Many of our Koringberg community members found themselves stuck and without aid. Rosie, Natanya and I put our heads together to raise funds from members of the village who had the means to help those who were feeling the pressures of the pandemic.
As donations trickled in, we built parcels of non-perishable food items and masks that we employed local labourers to manufacture.
In 2021, I registered Ek n Jy as a non-profit company to secure more funding and extend our reach into the community.
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Once we – Rosie, Tanya and I – had made it official, we honed in on raising money within the community and Cape Town to kick-start a sports development programme for kids. Nelson Mandela once said: ‘Sport has the power to change the world; it has the power to inspire.’ This truth, coupled with the value and discipline that sports generally teach, led us to start our first development programme for children in town.
It started with a youth rugby team led by Andre Naude – a local coach whose father serendipitously played for the Springboks. That instantly took off. Then, we introduced street cricket, followed by netball and eventually, we started a chess club led by our local chess master, Peter Farao. There are now 30 boys and girls playing chess three times a week at the POP centre when they’re not on the netball court, the rugby field or batting it out in street cricket.
As committed as we are to the kids, our efforts are equally focused on uplifting our community elders. We run two annual events for pensioners, a Christmas lunch and a mid-year winter drive, where we donate food hampers and winter essentials needed by those who struggle to make it by on social grants alone.
Our pets are as important as our people. Animal outreach is a cause close to my heart. Ek n Jy participates in various animal welfare activities within the Koringberg community, including spaying cats and dogs, educating community members on how to care for pets, and rehoming four-leggeds when needed.
Our next project will involve building a container library for a local primary school in partnership with Adventures for Love. Once we’ve set up the library, we’ll populate it with donated English and Afrikaans school books for children in grades 1 to 7. Donations of any kind are always welcome.
You can’t change the world, but you can help your community.
If you’d like to contribute towards Ek n Jy, email [email protected].
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Feature Image: Instagram / @eknjycommunity
