This story began with a question: what could I offer beyond a monthly donation?
I support Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organisation based in Limpopo. Founders Paul and Carina put extraordinary time and care into helping the animals that come their way. Behind that work are the less visible hours: feeding babies, nursing patients and being there through the night.
Committing to a monthly donation is a little scary when your income isn’t fixed and you never quite know what the next month will bring. R150.00 felt like an amount I could keep giving, so I made that commitment. But I still wanted to do more, within my own means.
And then I thought: I’m really good at sourcing things at amazing prices. I have an excellent eye for a good find, and that is something I can put to use. My means weren’t only the money in my account. They were also my skills, my time and the opportunity to connect what was with what could be.
Seeing The Possibility
My work takes me to places where overlooked things are waiting for another chance. On one of those visits, I found former hospital cotton blankets. I looked carefully through them and selected blankets that still had useful life ahead of them.
I first tried dyeing a batch for myself in blue. I was delighted with the transformation, and it opened up the possibility of doing the same for Wild Heart. The foundation requested charcoal for their blankets.
A Little Help From Lady Dye
I approached Lady Dye to ask whether they would support the project with a donation of dye. They generously supplied seven boxes of charcoal dye, and I covered the shipping. As soon as the parcel arrived, I got to work.
My machine could usually manage three of these heavy blankets at a time. Because they weren’t all the same size, I was able to fit an extra smaller blanket into two of the loads, bringing the total to 23 blankets dyed with the seven donated boxes.
Household laundry had to wait its turn!
A Transformation Worth Sharing
I also have to say how impressed I was with the Lady Dye machine dye. I simply popped the dye bag into the washing machine with the dry blankets and let the machine do the rest. For such a satisfying transformation, the actual dyeing was wonderfully straightforward, and I was delighted with the beautifully even colour. The hardest part was giving up my washing machine for all those loads!
Thank you to Erik Warburg and Lady Dye for generously donating seven boxes of dye to this project. Your support helped me transform 23 blankets for Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation, giving these useful finds a fresh start and a different purpose.
The Next Part Of Their Journey
The dyed blankets are finished and awaiting collection by Carina or Paul when they are next in Johannesburg. They are too heavy for me to send by courier, so the handover is still to come.
For me, this project is a reminder that a contribution does not have to begin and end with money. Sometimes it begins with noticing a possibility, using the skills already in your hands and being willing to do the work.
— Ina Lubbe, Purveyor of Vintage Treasure
Shift2ThriftVintage • Est. 2024 • Curated Vintage, South Africa • shift2thriftvintage.co.za