Hulamin's annual toy collection at the Edendale plant exceeded all expectations in December 2007, thanks to those Hulamin employees who contributed. Toys collected are distributed to disadvantaged children in the greater Pietermaritzburg region during the festive season. “What started off as a large, empty perspex box placed in the reception area at the Edendale plant, soon became a treasure trove of toys for boys and girls aged between 3 and 12 years,” says Jovie Pocock who co-ordinated the toy collection.
The concept of donating toys was originally linked to "Toy Story," co-ordinated by East Coast Radio five years ago. However, over the past three years Hulamin has conducted the collection independently to ensure that our toys reach children in need in our surrounding areas. It would seem that more toys are donated each year and the box was almost full to the brim when the toys were collected for distribution to the children in France (one of Pietermaritzburg's informal settlement areas) in mid- December 2007.
When asked to comment about her experience with the toy collection Jovie said, “Initially, the thought of Christmas shopping in busy malls and toy stores trying to choose and buy toys for children I'd never met had little appeal for me, in fact it filled me with dread, until I found myself completely enthralled by the fantasy of such an adventure.”
