Cape Town, 18 July 2016 – On Madiba’s birthday each year, South Africans are called to unite and give at least 67 minutes of their time to social investment, as we celebrate Mandela Day and the 67 years of public service he gave for social justice. In this spirit, Canal Walk Shopping Centre (CWSC) and LEAP Science and Maths Schools – a network of no-fee independent schools – are partnering to build a massive canned food mosaic of the Mandela Day logo on 18 July 2016. Businesses and members of the public are being invited and challenged, to join in and support this event through fundraising, donations of food cans and volunteering to build the mosaic.
Using 6,700 kilograms of food cans participants will build a massive mosaic spanning 8 X 16 metres in the form of the iconic Mandela Day logo. It will be a huge undertaking needing many hands, lots of energy and 17,000 cans of food. There will be four time slots where volunteer teams will spend 67 minutes per session constructing the mosaic using the donated food cans. To maintain the excitement and motivate teams the LEAP mass choir will perform live music and dancing in honour of Nelson Mandela, and share more about the social development projects LEAP learners and teachers are engaged in.
LEAP and CWSC have collaborated to raise funds for the LEAP network of schools and promote awareness around its work in education development. Companies are invited to lend their time, their labour force and their funds to support the cause. Vanessa Herbst, Marketing Manager at CWSC, says: “Many companies wish to get involved on Mandela Day and add their contribution to building our nation but are stuck for what to do. The #MandelaMosaic project is an ideal way to celebrate the memory of our former leader and contribute to making a meaningful difference in education development while supporting food security. After the mosaic build all the cans will be redistributed to community outreach projects that LEAP schools support.” These projects are in Langa, Gugulethu, Crossroads and Delft.
In the lead up to the 18th July, CWSC is staging a wonderful musical adaptation of Robin Hood and his merry men. Aside from the magic of Sherwood Forest coming to Cape Town and being one of the entertaining highlights on the social calendar, these school holidays. The message that the story conveys is as relevant as it ever was, as by supporting Robin Hood and viewing the production (which is way more than a ‘kids show’), members of the public and corporates looking to reward their hard-working employees and their families, will also be doing their bit for Mandela Day – a portion of ticket sales will also go to the LEAP Schools. CWSC is further encouraging theatregoers and members of the public visiting the centre, to ‘bring a can’ along with them, which can be deposited at a collection point stationed at Computicket in the Centre Court area.
Kicking off the challenge, the Hyprop Foundation has generously donated a lump sum for the education costs of LEAP students, with CWSC further donating a portion of its proceeds from the staging of its school-holiday annual theatre production.
Cape Town Image: The Marquis de La Fayette