Neil Knight and Barry Todd from Tate, Nolan & Knight with The Sunflower Fund's Stephanie Berry get comfy in the Sunflower Bandana cushions which colleague Christine Speirs made over a weekend after being inspired by a visit to The Sunflower Fund's website on National Bandana Day.

Although 280 000 Sunflower Bandanas were produced, South African's found themselves scrambling for one as the stock flew off the shelves and Christine Speirs from Tate, Nolan and Knight Attorneys was one of these people.

While deciding on how to tie her Sunflower Bandana, Christine visited the website and was so moved by the articles on the plight of leukaemia sufferers, 75% of them being under the age of 25, that she decided she needed to do something more.

After the staff members had worn their bandanas, Christine collected them and put her sewing skills to use.

She produced twenty bright and beautiful cushions and donated them to The Sunflower Fund. The Sunflower Fund will be presenting ten to Netcare Parklands for use in their newly renovated Paediatric Oncology ward. The remainder will be given to the teenage ward at Albert Luthuli Hospital which Hillcrest High School recently spruced up.   

Should you like to donate yours or your company's Sunflower Bandanas to the Fund, please contact Janine Le Roux on 031 266 1148 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . These bandanas will be donated to Vukukhanye who will distribute them to the sewing groups in Chesterville. These groups, made up of Gogos who head up households, will produce clothes, ironing board covers, peg holders and table clothes to sell. The money will then be used to provide their families with basic requirements.

Premier Helen Zille has endorsed the work of The Sunflower Fund as she announced that she has accepted the request to become a Patron and assist them in the education and awareness about becoming a bone marrow stem cell donor.

“I’m delighted to be a Patron of The Sunflower Fund as I fully support their incredible initiatives to increase the South African Bone Marrow Registry to help save the lives of leukaemia sufferers in South Africa. I will definitely be wearing my bandana on the 12 October, National Bandana Day, and I encourage all South Africans to do the same” expressed Premier Helen Zille.

Read more: Helen Zille Patron for Sunflower!

Imagine that it’s the middle of August and you have just received some dreadful news. It’s not something that you were expecting and it is something that’s going to turn your entire world upside down. The person you are closest to in this world has just been diagnosed with leukaemia. What do you do? You can’t think straight, so many questions are racing through your head, “What can I do to help?” is probably what you were thinking.

Here’s what you can do: from mid-August, Pick n Pay and BP Express stores will be selling The Sunflower Fund bandanas for only R20. Wear your bandana on the 12th October 2011 to show your Solidarity towards the brave fight that these patients face daily. All the money raised is put towards assisting The Sunflower Fund in increasing the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR), which exists to find and match bone marrow stem cell donors for patients who need a transplant, such as those with leukaemia and other life threatening blood disorders.

Read more: R20 Still Buys A Lot These Days