WeeklySA_AdminHOPE: Ford employees brought comfort and cheer to young patients at Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital with 350 personalised teddy bears carrying messages of hope…
By Jacob Mawela
Young patients at Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital received a welcome dose of comfort and cheer when Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa handed over 350 handmade teddy bears on September 9.
Ford’s Africa Operations president, Neale Hill, led the delegation that delivered the colourful bears, each lovingly created and personalised by employees at the company’s Silverton assembly plant in Pretoria and Struandale engine plant in Gqeberha.
The handover formed part of Ford’s Mandela Month initiative, dubbed “Mandela Bear Magic”, which encouraged employees to devote 67 minutes to creating cuddly companions for children receiving treatment at the hospital.
The 67 minutes symbolised the 67 years Nelson Mandela devoted to public service.
Each bear was dressed, decorated and accompanied by a handwritten message of encouragement.
A symbolic birth certificate bearing the logos of Ford and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund was also attached to every toy.
Some of the certificates carried uplifting messages about the children’s dreams, including the words: “I will grow up to be a doctor.”
The programme began in the hospital’s reception area, where Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital chief executive Dr Nkuli Boikhutso and Hill addressed guests.
Candise Matjila, the hospital’s stakeholder engagement officer, then read the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Promise, which sets out the mutual commitments between the institution, its healthcare professionals, young patients and their families.
The Ford delegation, representatives of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and members of the media were later taken through the hospital’s colour-coded wards to distribute the bears to patients.
Among the volunteers who helped make the toys was Ford head of marketing Tarryn Knight. She became emotional as she described the care that went into creating each bear.
As part of the process, employees placed a small heart inside every toy before it was sealed with a kiss and a special wish for the child who would receive it.
The visit brought the realities facing children with serious illnesses sharply into focus. One of the youngest patients encountered during the walkabout was only 14 days old.
The initiative also strengthened Ford’s relationship with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and its network of institutions, including the specialist paediatric hospital.
“Our teams gave their time, care and creativity to make each bear personal,” Hill said.
“Their messages of encouragement carry the spirit in which the bears were made, from our plant floors to children and families at Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.”
Hill said every bear represented an individual act of kindness by an employee at one of Ford’s South African manufacturing facilities. “We are proud of the way our team embraced the initiative and of the opportunity to stand alongside the hospital in supporting South Africa’s children,” he said.
For the young patients, the bears were more than gifts. They became symbols of hope, companionship and the knowledge that people beyond the hospital walls were thinking of them during a difficult time.
