Blue Bulls Celebrate local schools' generosity for Clothing4Children Campaign

Sep 14 • National, School • 4406 Views • Comments Off on Blue Bulls Celebrate local schools' generosity for Clothing4Children Campaign

The Blue Bulls Company has applauded the generosity of local schools for showing just how willing they are to donate to a worthy cause. Clothing4Children, a non-profit organization formed by teenage brothers Schalk and Wim Burger in 2010, pledged to clothe 13.5 million desperately needy people in South Africa of which 1.2 Million needy people reside in the Pretoria Metropole. Their goal is to raise 50 000 bags of clothing with the Blue Bulls-Loftus event.

Powerful images of homeless, poverty-stricken South Africans evoked the sense of charity and generosity amongst various schools in Pretoria and its surrounding areas so much so, that 38 500 bags have already been collected to date from 24 schools. The bags of clothing and bedding already collected by Clothing4Children to date are worth an estimated R205.8 million and would more than comfortably fill a 100m x 50m rugby field.

Richard Papo, Vodacom Blue Bulls Marketing Manager, said the desire amongst schools to make a difference by providing basic necessities for the unemployed, homeless and poor was overwhelming.
“The Clothing4Children initiative serves as a constant reminder that there are millions of underprivileged people in desperate need of our help. While conjuring up images of pain and sadness, there are many heart-warming stories as a result of the inspirational work started by the Burger brothers. Without question, we struck an emotional chord and have been astounded by the immense response of our local schools. The Blue Bulls Company and Clothing4Children are immensely grateful and are confident we’ll surpass our joint Loftus goal of 50 000 bags of clothing based on the response and support we’ve already received.”

The focus then turns to rugby clubs, suite owners, sponsors and general fans who will deliver their bags of clothing and bedding on Saturday, September 17th at Loftus Versfeld when the Vodacom Blue Bulls host Western Province in an Absa Currie Cup match.

Players from the Under 19 and Under 21 teams as well as senior players from both teams will walk onto the field carrying their bags of clothing. There is a dedicated area 100 x 50 m in size behind the Northern pavillion already stacked with approximately 39 000 bags of clothing and we want to encourage more fans to participate and bring their bags to Loftus on or before Saturday’s game.

Saturday’s match programme will include information, pictures and details about the Clothing4Children initiative and participating schools will be also be included. Three minutes during the halftime interval has been allocated to Clothing4Children to address the fans.

LED screens at Loftus Versfeld will feature one-minute videos of schools’ collections and Vodacom Blue Bulls players’ endorsements, Clothing4Children advertisements and the names of participating schools. Additional bags will be distributed via the ticket office at Loftus Versfeld from Monday, September 12th.