The Put A Smile Campaign, an initiative previously aimed at putting smiles on orphans’ faces during the festive season, is back, this time with a drive to collect a minimum of 200 pairs of school socks to be donated to destitute learners in Mthatha and Tsolo schools.
This was revealed to Express by the campaign’s champion, Sisonke Maguma, adding that he had managed to collect 50 pairs of socks by June 30.
“People will recall that we usually had the Put A Smile Campaign during the festive season, when we would ask for donations such as clothes, cakes and sweets, which we then donated to identified shelters to bring cheer to the destitute and elderly in those shelters on Christmas Day.
“This year, I decided to come up with a school socks collection drive, where we are asking individuals and businesses to donate grey and white pairs of socks that will be donated to identified schools in Mthatha and Tsolo towards the end of August,” said Maguma.
He further said that the decision to embark on a socks collection drive came about after he had observed that learners in rural schools wore torn socks, while others had no socks at all. Maguma’s socks collection drive has also received support from Tyson Brand, a clothing company in Durban, which has pledged to contribute an undisclosed number of pairs to the campaign.
He has further appealed to individuals and businesses alike to contribute towards the socks collection drive.
Those wishing to contribute can call or send a WhatsApp message to Maguma on 061 151 4314 or reach him on Facebook as Sisonke Onke Maguma.
The socks collection drive will run until August 25, after which the donated socks will be handed over to the identified beneficiary schools.
