PATTERSON PARK: On Friday November 8 a very special little boy with the biggest smile and the greatest spirit received a wheelchair at Patterson Park where he plays football.
Nine-year-old Kwame Letsoalo lost his legs when he was just a year-old and he has never had a chance to experience the joy of walking.
Even though he’s disabled he doesn’t allow this to hold him back and his greatest passion is soccer, where he plays goalie for his team, Jacoba FC. He is tremendously agile and mobile.
Jordan van der Walt (13) from Just One Bag Initiative and Pano Dimas (11), who attends Waterstone College and initiated Boots for Dreams, met Kwame at a soccer day that they had contributed towards. They identified the need for Kwame to receive a wheelchair and through networking this was made possible. With their interaction with The Johannesburg Mini Council and The Johannesburg Mini Council’s drive to collect bread tags and bottle tops through Interwaste for Wheelchairs, the wheels were set in motion.
JMC networks with The Marian Rose Foundation, a foundation which assists children who need medical assistance and The Sweethearts, who collect the JMCs bread tags and bottle tops and manage the wheelchair process through Interwaste. FeedSA has also got involved.
From three young boys meeting on a soccer field, two who saw the great need of the third, Kwame was carried into Patterson Park by his dedicated coach, Dimitri Athanasopoulos and given the gift of mobility. It was a deeply touching and humbling moment.
You can also get involved and assist in collecting bread tags and bottle tops. Bread tags are the little plastic clips found, not only on bread but on fruit and on confectionery products. For every 15kg of bread tags a wheelchair is redeemed. This year The Johannesburg Mini Council has redeemed nine wheelchairs. Bottle tops are any plastic bottle tops, from cola products, milk and dairy products and water bottles.
The Johannesburg Mini Council Schools have ongoing collections with JMC schools in the South being Grace Trinity; Highveld Primary School; Marist Brothers Linmeyer and St Martins Prep School. If you collect the bottle tops and bread tags, please try and drop them off at one of the above schools, knowing you’ll be helping someone like Kwame who needed a wheelchair.
