The Rotary Club of Hermanus had a busy week receiving and passing out beautiful, warm knitted garments to needy members of the community and receiving more than 100 fleecy blankets in the first Snowball run organised by local motorcyclists.

On Saturday around 50 members of the Overstrand biker community set off from the parking area of the Whale Coast Mall and rode through town escorted by the Traffic Department to the Hermanus High School. They gave more than 120 thick, warm blankets to Rotary Club members during a festive gathering at the high school’s field. The blankets will be handed out soon.

The event, the first Mayday Snowball Run, culminated weeks of planning by the Walker Bay Rowdies and Whale Coast Ulysses, which is part of an international organisation of bikers. The biker community is known for its enthusiastic support of community social issues, most notably its November Toy Run which collects hundreds of toys that bring holiday joy to local children whom may otherwise not receive a gift. Rod MacLeod of Ulysses club said he hopes to make the Snowball run a firm calendar feature on 1 May in the future.

“We will be reaching out to our biker brothers who have organised similar initiatives in the area to understand if we can consolidate our efforts into a single, larger meaningful event,” he said. The motorcyclists were clad in leathers distinctive to their clubs, which also included the Social Motorcycle Club of Hermanus, the Villains, the Christian Motorcycle Association and the Freewheelers.

Earlier in the week, dozens of local knitters, mostly elderly, handed over hundreds of blankets, beanies, sweaters and booties to members of Rotary’s Knitting for Love club. The women had designed and crafted the items for more than six months, some buying wool from their own incomes. The baby blankets, cardigans, beanies and booties were donated to Hermanus Municipal Hospital for destitute moms with babies while sweaters, scarves and beanies of suitable sizes were given to carers from the two Sandbaai children’s homes run by Elonwabeni Child and Family Services.

Rotarians gathered at Mama Soraya’s Soup Kitchen in Mount Pleasant Friday with several huge bags containing sweaters, baby clothes and booties, scarves and beanies. Mothers were on hand to collect for the children and babies too little to attend. The children sang a heart-warming song of thanks and ate a nourishing hot meal before descending on the two tables and car boot containing the clothes. The soup kitchen serves around 80 children daily.