‘Santa’ swoops in for 200 kids
All Dean van der Hulst had was an idea, a bakkie full of fuel and the drive to make a change for 200 orphaned children, who thanks to his efforts each received a gift and note from Santa this year.
Within two days of deciding to spread the Christmas cheer to those most in need of it, his Douglasdale flat resembled a toy store as he and his friends feverishly wrapped gifts for the little ones at Acres of Love.
The idea to reach out came to him while doing a Sunday morning clean up, he said.
“Being a single dad, the house does get quite chaotic when we hang out, with hotwheel tracks and dinosaurs and Lego and army men all over the place,” he said.
“While throwing toys into the toy box, I realised that there are so many my son, Hunter, hasn’t touched since last Christmas.”
He messaged his colleagues and asked them to help him collect everything, from books to board games and outgrown clothes to DVDs for the needy.
“How can I give my son a gift from Santa, knowing that some poor soul is sitting there thinking Santa doesn’t love him [because] he never got anything this year?” his message read.
“There’s so much useless junk in our homes that some orphan could really use. I’ll gladly come pick up anything you would like to donate, wrap them, write a little note from Santa, saying they’re a good kid; they do matter; they are loved.”
His co-workers at the Thusano Group, where Van der Hulst works as a business solutions specialist, “jumped in and got on board” with cash donations.
He started to think bigger, reaching out on social media.
“So instead of using Facebook for sharing memes, as I do all day, every day, I copied and pasted to my timeline and to the ‘I love Fourways’ group. I never imagined it would turn into the big project it became. I never did it for any other reason other than to have those lonely kids be reminded that they do matter.”
By the first night, he had collected about 100 gifts, which he decided to give to Acres of Love.
The orphanage, however, is home to 200 children.
Nowhere near the target, he reposted his appeal to his neighbourhood Facebook group, pleading for assistance.
His post was shared and soon he was receiving everything from toys to a fairy princess bed frame.
His drive collected, among others, 280 wrapped gifts, four black bags of clothes, two motorcycles, a scooter, a car seat, a box of infant supplies, a DVD player and a 300-piece stationary kit.
Each was wrapped and tagged, accompanied by a note from “Santa”, which will be delivered on Saturday.
Van der Hulst thanked those who helped: the friends who stayed to wrap the gifts, strangers who shared their goodwill and Hunter, 3, who “inspired me to be a dad he can be proud of”. – News24 Wire