A prominent Fish Hoek couple are taking the concept of a family tree to the next level after their daughter got married. Following a week of festivities, Jayati Patel, daughter of Warren’s Pharmacy owners Kirtikant and Nisha Patel, married Kavir Patel – his name happens to be Patel too – at the Webersburg Wine Estate on Friday January 17.
To off-set the carbon footprint incurred by all the travel and the festivities, Jayati’s parents donated 82 indigenous trees to the Rotary Youth Camp in Glencairn.
The couple have also pledged to donate a further 67 trees to the Rotary Youth Camp on their daughter’s wedding anniversary each
year for the next five years in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s love for children and their right to play in a safe, enriching and sustainable environment.
The trees will be planted in an area called Jayati’s Garden.
Mr Patel is a member of the Rotary Club Cape of Good Hope. He said he considered Rotary International a fitting recipient of the annual donation as more than
14 000 young people visited the camp each year.
Koos Burger, resident camp warden at the Rotary Youth Camp, said he had received the trees at the wedding celebration on Friday January 17.
Mr Burger said the trees had not been planted yet as it was a very dry summer, but they would be planted along the Else River.
“We keep the trees wet and
cared for, while we are preparing an area where they will be planted,” he said.
Mr Burger said the trees would help to replace some of the exotics along the Else River.
“These trees that were donated are symbolic of what should happen, it is also a practical way to do something to help to curb the climate crisis. This effort gave us at Rotary Camps Glencairn a
good start in our efforts to beautify our camps. It will also help in our efforts to nurture young South Africans to become conscious and environmentally aware leaders and decision makers in the future.
Every Capetonian should at least try to plant one fynbos plant every month. If we do plant one, give one as a gift to our friends,” he said.
