Teddy bears for joy

Almost 1 000 fluffy new teddy bears will bring comfort and entertainment to little ones in the Honeydew area following a huge donation by scrap dealers in the area.

The Honeydew Second-hand Recycling Committee comprising about seven scrap dealerships rallied together to put smiles to the faces of children in Zandspruit when they hosted a Teddy Bear Run in conjunction with the Honeydew Police Station on Tuesday, 3 December.

Prior to the preschool visits in Zandspruit, the committee made a drop-off at the Honeydew Victim and Trauma Centre.

Johnny Loots, the owner of Auto Cover Management, explained the idea behind this initiative.

“Every year scrap dealers in the area contribute R1 000 to give back to the community. Last year, we donated money towards painting Masakane Primary School in Zandspruit, but this year we thought we should do something different by purchasing teddy bears for the children to take home,” he explained.

Part of this initiative, according to Loots was to dispel the negative views of the service they render.

“Scrap dealers have a bad reputation because we are accused of stealing cables; however, we meet with the police on a monthly basis to discuss our line of business,” he explained.

Honeydew Metal Recycling owner Lisa Steenkamp added that the initiative was also a way to create awareness that not all scrap dealers work outside the boundaries of the law. “We have a monthly meeting with the police and we are inspected regularly,” she emphasised, adding that the project was also aimed at giving back to the communities that support their businesses.

“This project is meant to create a little fuzzy moment for the children; sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, but the child’s face is a good enough reward,” Lisa concluded.

Sponsors Auto Cover Management, Honeydew Metal Recycling, South City, Skorokoro, BMG and Hentieshelf were thanked for their contributions.