There was a time when the imbawula meant something beautiful: stories told under open skies, neighbours pulling close, generations bonding over flickering flames. That warmth of community, of belonging is still real. But increasingly, so is the danger.
As crime has made the outdoors feel less safe at night, more families are bringing their imbawula into their homes and, because coal and wood cost money many families do not have, they burn plastic, scraps, anything to make the coal or wood last a little longer. What follows is invisible and odourless and deadly: carbon monoxide creeping through a home while a family sleeps. Or a single stray ember in a neighbourhood where houses stand shoulder to shoulder, and a fire can swiftly spread from one home to another. The other, stark reason why we dig deep each year to supply all of our teens with new, warm, high quality, hooded sweaters.
For the past five years, not only have your donations kept all of our teens warm and safe but, in many cases, you’ve gifted them with the only new item of clothing they possess. More than that, they’re eventually handed down and passed around, meaning their younger siblings are also protected from the cold, and there are less reasons to risk lighting a fire indoors.
This winter, Infinite Family is again raising funds to provide 200 Net Buddies with a hooded sweater and we’d be so grateful for your support.
$40 / R450 keeps 1 teens warm and safe
$200 / R2,250 keeps 5 teens warm and safe
$1,200 / R13,500 keeps a classroom of 30 teens warm and safe
You have already shown us what a single donation can do. It ripples. It warms more than one person. It keeps families safer, keeps kids closer to home, and gives a young person something that too many of us take for granted: the simple dignity of something warm and new.
Will you join our hooded sweater campaign and help us reach our goal? Click here to say YES and Keep Teens Warm and Safe
Every hooded sweater counts. Every rand and dollar matters.
Somewhere in a township tonight, a teenager is waiting for the warmth only you can give. Thank you!