If you’re wondering how you can celebrate Youth Day this year, why not do something meaningful in the lives of thousands of underprivileged children and help them get dressed up for school? With all of us feeling the winter chill, MySchool and The Clothing Bank are imploring every single person to help provide suitable clothing for school going children on Friday 15 June. The Clothing Bank collects clothing from retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and the general public, then repairs, sorts and distributes clothing to needy communities. The organisation also provides employment for mothers, empowering them through enterprise development. How can you support MySchool Clothing Donation Day: Simply take a pair of grey school pants, a white shirt, a pair of grey or white socks, a grey, black or navy jersey, blazer or skirt, or any other appropriate clothing for young learners, and deliver it at one of the drop-off points situated throughout Cape Town. The drop-off points are Durbanville Primary School, Kenilworth Centre, CBC St Johns, Customer Services at Canal Walk, Woolworths Canal Walk, Welgemoed Primary School and Rondebosch Boys Preparatory School. Second hand and new uniforms are welcome – much like MySchool’s “Every swipe counts” slogan, in this instance, every “item” counts! “The MySchool Clothing Donation Day is an important way in which each of us can do something tangible for another child. If your child has outgrown his old blazer or skirt, why not give it someone who can still find it useful? Or simply have a look through your cupboard for your old school clothes. We can all make a difference no matter how big or small,” comments Pieter Twine, MySchool general manager. For more information on MySchool Clothing Donation Day and the collection points, or general MySchool information contact Murishca Martheze on mmartheze@myschool.co.za or 021 469 4839 or visit www.myschool.co.za . About MySchool MySchool acts as a channel that raises and delivers essential funding to schools, charities and environmental organisations in order to improve education and social development in South Africa. This enables members of the community to participate in the future development of our nation in a sustainable way. The programme gives parents, community and environmentally-minded individuals a vehicle through which to make a meaningful contribution to participating organisations, in a convenient and transparent manner. It is not a donation service, but a true partnership between charities and business partners. How MySchool works MySchool facilitates school support on behalf of a range of business partners who have a specific interest in education. The fundraising programme is a partnership between business partners, the community and schools; all striving to create a better future for South Africa. Approximately 600 000 parents and community-minded individuals have MySchool supporter cards. Supporters use their MySchool supporter cards whenever they shop at one of the MySchool business partners. A small percentage of their transaction – up to 5 percent – is then allocated to their beneficiary school or charity. All these transactions are recorded and a statement is sent to individual supporters on a monthly basis. The supporter card is not a debit or credit but serves as a measure through which valuable supporter data, such as transactions and funds raised for a particular school, are tracked. In addition to channelling funds to schools and charitable organisations, MySchool also promotes developmental initiatives in under resourced schools in conjunction with their partners. These initiatives are aimed at bringing much-needed resources to non-profit organisations, and starting partnerships with more affluent schools and business partners. Some initiatives include a twining model whereby a resourced school partners with an under-resourced school with the aim of aiding the school’s development, as well as multi-partner projects such as the Toys R Us donation station and stationery collection drives for underpriveleged Schools. MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Originally the MySchool programme was exclusive to schools and only schools could sign up as beneficiaries. Recently the MyVillage and MyPlanet alternatives were added to our list of organisations that we raise valuable funds for. MyVillage organizations are charities that care for people. MyPlanet organizations care for animals and the planet.

If you’re wondering how you can celebrate Youth Day this year, why not do something meaningful in the lives of thousands of underprivileged children and help them get dressed up for school? With all of us feeling the winter chill, MySchool and The Clothing Bank are imploring every single person to help provide suitable clothing for school going children on Friday 15 June.