Durban — By combining her love for nature conservation with her drive to help needy people, a Durban woman has found a way to accomplish the proverbial killing of two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Sallyanne Graham, 61, of Yellowwood Park, Durban, has made helping people a way of life from a young age.
Graham’s resourceful initiative to supplement her acts of kindness was to collect plastic bottle caps and bread bag tags on behalf of an organisation she supports.
The collected items are then handed to the company that recycles them and the proceeds are used for wheelchair acquisitions.
Graham said that she was inspired to drive this project out of her love for giving.
“I have always liked recycling stuff and I have always loved to help people. If I can do anything in my power to help people, then I will. So I decided that this would be the perfect way to do both the things I love, and it contributes towards having a cleaner environment,” she said.
Graham collects the recyclable items from her home, friends and the public.
She has also set up a collection point at her home for such items, an initiative that she has been involved with for a decade.
“My children were young when I began working on this initiative.
“Now that they are older, they have teamed up with me on this project.
“Recently, my seven-year-old granddaughter got involved and loved it.”
That was Graham’s way of enlightening her family on the concept of “one hand washes the other”, regardless of who may need the assistance.
“I believe that if we all helped each other, the world would become a better place,” said Graham.
While it was not an easy ride keeping up with the number of people in need of wheelchairs, coaxing donations from people for the main purpose of the initiative was challenging.
Graham, a former Northlands Girls High School student, said she had no intention to slow down with her charitable initiative.
Sunday Tribune