If you are making your way through the streets of Westridge look out for the trees wrapped in pink to create awareness, unite residents and raise funds for those affected by cancer.
Initiated by Pink Trees for Pauline, the organisation, along with staff of the City of Cape Town and the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa), trees in Morgenster Road and De Duin Avenue were wrapped on Tuesday September 27 and will remain so during the month of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Managing director of Pink Trees for Pauline, Adri Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen said the aim of the organisation, which was established in 2012 and is active in 55 areas in the country, was to raise funds to assist people affected by cancer with their right to access to cancer treatment.
“Funds raised in a town must be allocated to the cancer community within that town,” she said. “This means that the impact of the project is immediate and visible. The appointed committee of each town sees to it that cancer patients and families affected by cancer benefit from the funds raised, such as access to treatment, food parcels, prosthesis and toys for children affected by cancer and transport.”
She said the organisation focused primarily on fundraising and had been granted membership by the Cancer Alliance, a collective of cancer advocacy groups. “To us, pink is an expression of new life and through this project, new life becomes a possibility. The more people who get involved, the greater the impact. For this reason, we encourage group and community involvement. As they say, ‘many hands make light work’,” Ms Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen said.
Rene Petersen community mobiliser for Cansa, thanked those who had helped make the campaig possible.