100 reasons to be helpful this Mandela Day

4 Star wants to raise cash for hygiene

LOCAL pop star Craig Lucas is putting his musical gifts to good use this Mandela Day.

He is teaming up with Real Art Wednesday (RAW) on Mandela Day to provide sanitary towels to young girls in poor communities.

Lucas has agreed to be the headline act for RAW’s platform to provide local upcoming artists with the opportunity to showcase their musical talents at Inside on the Greens in Wynberg.

The proceeds will be donated to Project Dignity, which provides sanitary towels to girls in disadvantaged communities.

“This project has taken off in other provinces but Cape Town is still lagging.

“A friend told me that she knows of young women in poor areas who use newspaper and even plastic bags as they simply cannot afford sanitary towels,” said Lucas.

He told Weekend Argus he was spotted by KFM DJ Ryan O’Connor at a RAW event and that’s how his glittering career was launched.

He added that in some schools condoms were provided free of charge, but sanitary towels were not made available to young women.

“With this project, I hope to also start the conversation around menstruation as this topic is often taboo. Men don’t want to talk about it, but it’s important that we have this discussion,” added Lucas, who said a lack of feminine hygiene materials for young women was often the reason why many dropped out of school.

“People do not always think of the real reasons why young women drop out of school. They think the girls are lazy but this is not always the case,” he added.

Tickets for the event on Wednesday cost R67 and Lucas is encouraging everyone to do their bit for Mandela Day by supporting the RAW event.

If you’re looking for something to do this Mandela Day, either online or offline, the website forgood.co.za has made things a bit easier for you.

Marking 100 years since Madiba was born, there is no better time than now to get stuck in and do something really cool for Mandela Day.

This year’s theme, Be the Legacy, is encouraging everyone to take #ActionAgainstPoverty by devoting 67 minutes of their time to public service on July 18 – Mandela’s birthday.

Forgood.co.za has listed 100 different opportunities across the country for individuals or groups to get involved in.

The website has nine campaigns, one for each province, with a combined total of 100 ways to take part in #MandelaDay.

If you can’t make it to the organisation on the day, there are loads of things you can do from the comfort of your couch or office desk – help manage their Facebook page, tidy up their website, or do some proposal writing – virtual volunteering is that easy!

You can help the Cancer Association of SA (Cansa) by donating Cansa care packs for adult and children cancer patients this Mandela Day.

You can also help the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of SA, which needs five volunteers to raise funds for a soccer tournament.

St Luke’s Hospice is running a campaign to benefit palliative care patients.

The Fisantekraal Centre for Development needs 10 volunteers for one to four hours for Mandela Day.

Using Nelson Mandela’s own words: “It’s in your hands to make the world a better place.”

Meanwhile, local radio stations are pulling out all the stops for Mandela Day with charity events planned for next week.

Heart FM will be teaming up with Canal Walk Shopping Mall to build a giant mosaic of Mandela out of cans from 9am to 4.30pm.

The organisers are also looking to break the record on donations – food and funds – to support this worthy cause.