South Africa Clothing Drive

I just wanted to pass along this note from my cousin as I am sure some of you might be interested, if you are then you can let me know and I can arrange to get the clothing to Krystal. Thanks for your help!

Clothing Drive for South Africa

Dear Family & Friends,
As I am sure all of you know Booker and I have moved to Cape Town, South Africa. While we have been here we have seen a lot of poverty and need. We would like to involve everyone (who wants to be) in trying to help the children here, because our collective efforts will be worth so much more. Booker and I are coming back for a family reunion and Kari’s wedding at the end of July. At such time, we hope to bring back to Africa as many bags as we can of clothing and other items to the children here. We hope that there is too much for us to bring back in one trip, so we will either ship it or we will have people who will be visiting us from home bring it along with them.


We are going to be focusing on children between the ages of 0-12. These children really need all kinds of clothing and other necessities (tights, underwear, toothbrushes, and shoes). However, we want to focus on Sunday clothes and winter wear. The winters get to be around 15ºC so a jacket is needed. Plus it is very rainy, so any rain gear would be appreciated. Tights are important for kids to wear under their pants and dresses to help keep them warm, and a good pair of shoes as well. As for Sunday wear, any kind of church clothes (dresses, shirts, dress pants, sweaters, ties, and skirts), shoes and tights are all needed. If the children are lucky they have one set of church clothes. Most have to wear either their school uniform or their best street wear.


We certainly do not expect people to go out and buy these things, but hope that you will be able to look in your own homes, or homes of your neighbors to help fulfill some of these children’s needs. Hand-me-downs work just fine. We suggest turning to your own ward, by making an announcement of things needed and collecting them. If you are wanting and able to purchase items, secondhand stores are more than appropriate.


We will be collecting all the goods during our trip to Canada July 18-31. We will be in Magrath from July 18-25 and Drayton Valley from the 26-31. By providing these goods, you can make a world of difference to a family. These families are in real need. It has been a humbling experience to see the need of some of these families, and their ability to persevere and put smiles on their faces.


We have committed to our ward leaders to do this clothing drive, so please don’t let us down!!! Any little bit helps!


If you know of people who have not received this message, please pass it on to all (relative). The more people we have donating goods the bigger the difference we can make!


If you are willing to participate, please let me know, so we can figure out if we need to find more people to enlist!!!