Sweet armour for the elderly

Update

KNYSNA NEWS - In the midst of all the negativity surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, Knysna's elderly have benefited from a donation by Gift of the Givers in the form of honey produced by bees that were saved from 2017 Knysna fires.

In the mad scramble to save as many people in and around Knysna during the fires, there were a select few heroes of a different kind.

Just over a year after the 2017 fires, Hope for Honey was founded by Owen Williams, Grant Livesey and Meagan Vermaas, to come up with a disaster response to the destruction of the Cape honeybee and assist them in repopulating.

The bees at Rheenendal producer Honeychild Honey were saved after the fires, and now, nearly three years on, their honey is making its way to Knysna old-age homes, through the Gift of the Givers (GotG) disaster response NGO.

Annually, the two producers give honey to GotG chair Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, who then distributes the honey as he sees fit. "This year, we approached Dr Sooliman and asked him if we could donate his honey to local old-age homes," said Williams, who is also a GotG volunteer, "and he happily obliged."

According to Williams, honey can greatly assist in caring for the aged. "Honey is a natural immune booster, and in times like these our elderly need to be taken care of as much as possible," he said.

Williams and the GotG crew visited Loeriehof Old Age Home and Vermont Centre on Friday 3 April to hand over the donations of honey, which according to Williams will hopefully last them through the remainder of the lockdown.

"We're smiling behind the masks," said volunteer Owen Williams, GotG Southern Cape Manager Mario Ferreira, Badisa Knysna Project coordinator Nico Barnardo, volunteer Enzo Prins and volunteer Grant Livesey when they donated the honey to Loeriehof. Photo: Blake Linder