Knysna fire donations explained
Despite claims from a member of the public, the distribution of donations meant for fire victims is not a free-for-all, say organisers.
Editor Elaine King of the Knysna-Plett Herald (KPH) initially reported that a “shopping spree” happened around midday on Monday 16 April.
She said in a video the centre appeared to be packed with members of the public jostling to get in the door of the storage room while others were seen leaving Woodmill Walk with filled black bags.
It was later verified that some 20 volunteers were working inside sorting out bags of clothes for distribution while other people were trying to get in - a situation which was not meant to have happened like this according to organisers.
Unhappy ‘fire victim’
While Knysna Disaster Fund’s Jill Morse said that much of the clothing items had to be released as they were not fit for official distribution [what was seen in the black bags being carried out], an alleged fire victim at the scene – a man who wouldn’t identify himself – was very unhappy that these donations were “simply going without anybody even needing to prove they were ever fire victims”.
But this was and is not the case, say the custodians of the clothes, the OneKnysna#OK Association – a group started by fire victims for fire victims, who fought hard for the donations to stay in Knysna when the threat of said donations leaving Knysna reared its head earlier this year.
All above board, say organisers
When asked for comment, Ewan Seton of One Knysna confirmed that all the people who were at Woodmill Walk on Monday collecting clothes had prearranged to do so, or were volunteers that had already worked and therefore could collect the 10 items that were promised to them for their trouble.
Seton also invited the unidentified alleged fire victim who caused a stir to contact him so that the matter could be resolved. As can be seen on the video by King, this man was, in fact, on Monday invited to collect clothing but he declined, saying, “I don’t want to help”.
‘Collection by appointment’
Stefan Goosen of KPH reported later that day that Seton said on 10 April that the sorting of the clothing stored at Woodmill Walk for the last eight months is finally under way.“Volunteers from the Red Cross, One Knysna and the Knysna Disaster Fund are currently involved in this process,” he said.
According to Seton, collection of the donations by those in need would be strictly by appointment, and “that the victims would be served first, but service will not be limited to fire victims only”.
Procedure for non-fire victims
“The goods will also be distributed to people who have urgent need of relief as well but were not affected by the fire of June last year,” he said.
Seton added that there is a process that people who need assistance in the form of clothing or bedding need to adhere to if they are not fire victims. “It is essential that people who need to access the goods … but are not themselves fire victims notify their churches or the institution where they are registered for assistance and ask them to contact the Red Cross or One Knysna to arrange for an appointment,” he said at the time, adding that these individuals could alternatively register directly with the Red Cross.
“These institutions then need to contact One Knysna and we will book appointments for those institutions to come with the persons in need to allow them to choose the items they feel they may need to help them. In addition to this, if organisations such as crèches, churches or NGOs would like to participate in the project to distribute the goods to the needy, they are welcome to contact us directly and find out how they can participate,” said Seton.
During a visit to Woodmill Walk on Tuesday 17 April, KPH was informed that there were no collections allowed except by those who had prearranged with Seton to do so.
Morse confirmed that the volunteer programme had been stopped to avoid any further disruption or misunderstanding. “From now on anybody who would like to volunteer will have to either contact the local Red Cross or Ewan (Seton) himself,” she said.
Procedure for fire victims
Fire victims who would like to access the goods need to contact the OneKnysna#OK Association to register and to book an appointment. The easiest way to do so is to join the One Knysna WhatsApp group or SMS their details directly to Seton on 072 682 8982.