Miss Earth: Stationery Drive 2013

Stationery Drive 2013 - Miss Earth SA

This year, one of my goals as I stated in my Happy New Year post was "Random acts of kindness: I want to give back to others more. Even if I can only give them a smile, sometimes that's all that a person needs to have a better day" as well as "To be the best I can be: to be great at work; a great friend; a great daughter; a great sister; a great person ~ each of us have it in us to be the very best", so giving back to others is definitely what I aim for this year. I decided that a great way to start would be to get involved with the Miss Earth's Stationery Drive campaign.

I got in touch with the Miss Earth office and this is what they had to say:

"Miss Earth SA Stationery Drive set to give hope and inspire

It’s not just green issues, greening communities and inspiring sustainable lifestyles. Miss Earth South Africa in association with Consol have launched their annual Stationery Drive campaign; a project born from seeing thousands of children going to school without so much as a pencil. In 2012, in honour of the Miss Earth South Africa’s 10 year anniversary, the organisation set itself the audacious goal of distributing 10,000 stationery packs to underprivileged learners across South Africa. A task they were more than equal to, having distributed in excess of 11,700 stationery packs by the end of March last year.

This year the organisation aims to maintain or exceed this number, having already received requests for more than 7 000 stationery packs from very poor and disadvantaged schools and organisations before the end of last year. A number of schools in the Gauteng region have already been identified as the first schools that will benefit from the campaign, which is now in its 7^th year. Some of the areas that will benefit include Orange Farm, Alexandra, Vosloorus and Thembisa to name but a few.

“We understand the need for and value of education and we have visited primary schools in under underprivileged areas where up to 40 learners share one pencil in a classroom, this is not conducive to a healthy learning environment. The contributions of the public are what makes it possible for us to equip these learners with the stationery they need to make the most of their education,” said Miss Earth South Africa National Director, Catherine Constantinides.

Ella Bella, the Miss Earth South Africa’s Educational Officer, said that many of the children were so overwhelmed with joy and pride to have their own their own set of stationery that, during distributions last year, many children asked if they had to give it back.

Contributions to the Stationery Drive can be made either in physical stationery or in the form of financial contributions to the Miss Earth South Africa organisation. It is asked that no old or broken stationery be sent. Stationery sets are the easiest and most logistically uncomplicated to distribute. In 2012 the greatest contribution and difference was made by the selfless contributions of hundreds of South African’s who participated by collecting from those around them and going out to buy packs of stationery, books, diaries and files. For more information about how you can get involved, please visit the Miss Earth South Africa’s website: www.missearthsa.co.za and tweet @missearth_sa or email the office at info@missearthsa.co.za. For further queries call the Head Office in Johannesburg on 011 680 6650." 

For those that are interested in helping out, above are the details for the Miss Earth office. 

To my friends and readers in the Gauteng area, I'm going to be collecting stationery to hand over to Miss Earth and would love if you could help! Please remember, every small amount helps, even if it is just a pen or a sharpener - you are helping someone's future to be brighter!