One thing we have come to realise about our brand is that we are free to change the narrative. We have been involved in community building whether art or fashion related initiatives before. This time we are helping raise funds for the community of the Allemansdrifts B in Mpumalanga through an auction.
Kelly Szabo and Kate Crossland both Ex Pats started to support a rural village together following the onset of South Africa’s protracted Covid 19 Lockdown period. From level 5 through to level 1, they collectively fed over 1000+ families weekly with support from other concerned individuals around the globe. As South Africa moved to level 1, they took a joint decision to move towards Hand Ups Vs Hand Outs and are now working on creating both food security and job creation opportunities in Allemansdrift B, Mpumalanga. Allemansdrift B is a large rural community near Vaalbank with huge poverty, because essentially there is no employment there. There are a lot of elderly people who are bringing up grandchildren and there’s a lot of child-headed households. There is also an extreme need and intermittent water supply.
In order to do this, an infrastructure needs to be put in place in the form of an office, equipment and training materials. Kelly approached Issa Leo and us for assistance in this respect ”being aware of our involvement with community based initiatives of this nature”. We have donated one each of our signature leather jackets for auctioning in order to purchase the requisite equipment and hope that you our valued clientele will support our efforts. The winning bid on each jacket will have access to our creative team at Iconic Black who will, in turn, customise their jackets making their purchase a highly specialised limited edition at no charge other than for the price bid.
If you don’t get a chance to bid on the auction, you can still purchase some items on the brands website. The brands will donate 30% of the sales to the cause. Your support will definitely go a long way. For more info on how you can bid on the auction you can visit https://www.friendsofab.co.za/
