Mandela Day, created as part of the 46664 campaign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, is meant to honor the achievements of Mandela as a social justice activist by “address[ing] social issues such as education, health care, social enterprise, hunger and poverty, human rights, and ecology and environment,” said a joint statement from the two organizations.
In the week leading up to Mandela’s birthday, July 18, the public is encouraged to follow in his footsteps and lend a hand to humanitarian efforts.
Tim Massey, the International Director of 46664, hopes that this first Mandela Day will spread to other “centers of the world” and “resonate in many countries” in order to carry on Mandela’s legacy of uniting people through reconciliation.
In celebration of Mandela’s 67 years of fighting for social justice, volunteers dedicated 67 minutes of their time to package Red Delicious apples to send to homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
“It doesn’t matter how small, a little thing [such as] reading to the elderly, or packaging with City Harvest,” will help, said Massey.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined volunteers at the event to honor Mandela, saying that “[Mandela] really cared and tried to save the world,” as he packaged apples alongside other volunteers.
15-year-old Curtis Jones from the South Bronx helped out at the event because he wanted to “Make sure to give [his] part.” Jones was among 12 youth that 46664 sent to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela last month.
Jones said that Mandela’s wish for the new generation is to realize their social responsibility to “come together and unite the world—no matter what color and no matter what race.”
Daphne Ranwashe, a 60-year-old native of South Africa who has worked as an attaché for United Nations since she first arrived in New York in 2007, was also among the volunteers bagging apples for the less well-off.
Ranwashe has been in contact with Mr. Mandela many times, and was among those who welcomed his release from jail. Mandela was imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years for “impassioned” anti-apartheid efforts. The 46664 Campaign takes its name from Mandela’s prison number (466) and that he was imprisoned in 1964.
Ms. Ranwashe explained that felt encouraged by him when she spoke to him, and described the leader as very “charismatic” and “tolerant.”
Mandela “interacts with the whole nation” and has urged South Africans to “be strong, work hard, and make [their] country be known by the whole world,” Ranwashe said. “I am what I am because of him.”
For more information on ways to participate in Mandela Day activities, visit www.mandeladay.com/participate
