Hotel group helps to turn sheets into shirts
Empowerment project provides uniforms for schoolchildren
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Five school shirts can be made from one king-size bed sheet Josie Lyon
Marriott International
JUST over 280 king-size sheets have changed the lives of Eastville Primary School pupils in Mitchells Plain.
With support and a steady supply of sheets from 10 Marriott International properties in Cape Town, the Sheets for Shirts project not only provides school clothing for children but is empowering women.
The Sheets for Shirts project is run by Royal Kidz, a non-profit organisation founded by Kensington resident Danolene Johanessen in 2013. The NPO seeks to restore dignity to children from impoverished communities by providing school uniforms and shoes.
The Sheets for Shirts project kicked off during back-to-school season in January, with a donation of almost 300 school shirts to Grade R and 1 learners at Eastville Primary.
For Mandela Day, the project supplied more than 1 000 school shirts – made from sheets donated by hotels such as Marriott Hotels Crystal Towers, Protea Hotels by Marriott, 15 on Orange, The Westin Cape Town and AC Hotels Waterfront Cape Town – along with 1000 winter jackets and pairs of shoes.
Marriott International’s involvement started when they offered support to Royal Kidz three years ago, as a corporate social investment project.
The Sheets for Shirts campaign was conceptualised last year when the hotel group realised their old bed linen could be repurposed to make school shirts.
“Five school shirts can be made from one king-size bed sheet. The cotton is high-quality, and we have 10 hotels in Cape Town alone, which provides a steady supply,” says Josie Lyon, who manages Marriott International’s involvement in the project.
“We fell in love with this school and its amazing headmaster and committed to supplying each child with a school shirt this year.”
Johanessen’s life has also changed through the partnership.
She had always dreamed of setting up a workshop to employ local seamstresses, and a R1.2 million investment by Marriott International has enabled her to start Restore SA Pty Ltd.
The social enterprise company is 100% owned by Johanessen and dedicates 40% of its profits to fund the Royal Kidz uniform project.
Restore SA also employs 10 people and has a permanent workshop in Parow and an online retail store.
“I’ve always wanted to have my own studio, but I didn’t think I could. Sometimes you just see the challenges standing in the way of your dream.
“But working with Marriott International changed my perspective. It showed me all things are possible, and you really can make something out of nothing,” Johanessen said.
“The workshop has changed these women’s lives. They now have an income and a sense of purpose.
‘‘We’re making sure children from poor communities stay in school by clothing them.”