Cape Town – The Twitter Blanket Drive (#TBD2017) is back and bigger than ever before.
For the first time, the Twitter Blanket Drive is partnering with #DignityDrive and calling on South Africans to not only donate blankets to this year’s campaign but to also donate sanitary products for school-going girls and young women, who can’t afford them.
Last year, Siv Ngesi joined this initiative in celebration of his 31st birthday.
Instead of partying it up like an SA celebrity, he challenged South Africans to donate sanitary pads to those who need it, giving birth to the #DignityDrive campaign.
Cape Town are you ready? @FireandIceCT Johannesburg @FireandIceMA are you ready? Pretoria @FireandIceME are you ready? For #TBD2017:) pic.twitter.com/7K3EuBgBel
— Merentia v d Vent (@Merentia) April 3, 2017
Protea’s Fire & Ice Hotel’s in Cape Town, Pretoria & Johannesburg will be backing this drive once again.
In conjunction with the #DignityDrive campaign, the Twitter Blanket Drive is asking companies and individuals to drop off pads, tampons and reusable moon cups, along with new or good quality second-hand blankets, at the Fire & Ice Hotel in Cape Town.
The affordability of sanitary pads is a big problem in South Africa and some girls even skip school as they cannot afford sanitary ware.
"If men bled once a month, there would be free pads available, like condoms! I will not rest until this is a reality" says Ngesi.
Sanitary products collected will be distributed to school-going girls and young women.
For the past eight years, South Africa’s Twitter community has united to help donate thousands of warm blankets for the poor just in time for winter.
. @tbdsouthafrica The Hamestown Golf Club collected 130 #TBD2016 blankets. @merentia https://t.co/fa3G2NgOrU pic.twitter.com/mdlD2NBCis
— Merentia v d Vent (@Merentia) June 12, 2016
#fbf Thank you to everyone that came out to support the #tbd2016 pic.twitter.com/g3es97bbAb
— PH Fire & Ice! CT (@FireandIceCT) June 3, 2016
“With winter around the corner, we know that charities struggle to try and meet the demand for blankets for the underprivileged. But in today’s digital world, we have the power to make that change’’ says #TBD2017’s national co-ordinator and Cape Town host, Merentia van der Vent.
The 3 Protea’s Fire & Ice Hotels will act as the main “drop-off zones’’ for anyone interested in donating blankets up until the final event on Thursday, 25 May 2017.
South Africa’s oldest wine-producing estate, Groot Constantia will also be an official drop off zone.
If you drop off a blanket at the wine farm between 3 April and 25 May, the donator will receive a free wine tasting, as well as a souvenir Spiegelau crystal wine glass.
A Twitter Blanket Drive campaign is also happening this year on the Cape West Coast, where a fun run will be held to collect blankets, and a team in Durban will also collect blankets.
For more information or to become involved in this year’s drive, please visit www.twitterblanketdrive.com
Get involved on Twitter: Use the hashtag #TBD2017 and #DignityDrive