WhatsApp group builds community spirit in north Durban
This year he started the Sunningdale Buy Nothing WhatsApp group as a way for community members to support neighbours by donating items they no longer needed to reuse rather than discarding.
The group, which already has more than 100 members, has already helped residents in the area.
So successful has the idea been, that Van Reenen has also started a Glen Hills, uMhlanga and Durban North Buy Nothing WhatsApp groups.
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'I actually got the idea from a show called Chicago Fire, one of the characters was adopting a baby and they found what they needed through a Buy Nothing group, a reuse group. I put the feelers out in the area I live in and people were quite keen on the idea. We've had a number of success stories including our first one where a resident was looking for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine.
'He had actually contacted me before I had started the group asking if I knew where he could buy one. It just so happened one of the first things to be listed on the group to give away was this very machine. Since then we've had people give away books, beds, a car seat, a pram, and recently coffee beans. The groups, in Sunningdale and Glen Hills, are open to anyone who lives within the area. The only rule we have is these groups are not for selling. We also monitor the groups to make sure one person isn't taking everything on offer and then selling it on Facebook Marketplace,' he said.
Van Reenen said in essence both WhatsApp groups promoted honesty.
'The ethos we hope to instil is to take what you need and give what you don't need. You can even request what you need, and there might be a person on the group who has that very item they are not using anymore. I have been asked why aren't we giving to charity, I feel there is enough people giving to charity, but there isn't enough people looking after our own community. It can be difficult asking for help but with the Buy Nothing concept we are strengthening our community,' he said.
If you are a resident of the area and would like to join, email: [email protected].
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