By Jaime Uranovsky
After Jaime Rose Whitesman tragically passed away from medulloblastoma in January last year, her mother, Martine Volks, knew that her daughterโs legacy would live on.
One of the ways in which Martine is ensuring that Jaimeโs flame burns bright is through Spreading the Love for Jaime Rose: Jaimeโs Book Club, which Martine started in September last year. But what is Jaimeโs Book Club and how did it come about?
Martine shares, โ[Jaime Rose] was an avid reader. She absolutely loved her books and kept them in the most impeccable condition. Her shelves were filled with books and I kind of walked in there and thought โWow, what am I going do with all of these?โ That was the initial thought process. And then obviously [we were] spending a lot of time in the hospitals and hospital lounges and there was a lack of books.โ
Martine began by donating Jaimeโs own books and then reached out to the community when it came time to source more: โFrom people dropping off, Iโve collected at least 4000 books. People have been quite incredible. The community’s response has been amazing.โ
For Martine, this project is very much about paying it forward. She explains, โWhen we were raising money for treatment for [Jaime] and for the Red Cross, [our campaign] was called For the Love of Jaime. This is about giving back. Thatโs why itโs called Spreading the Love for Jaime Rose. Now itโs going outwards. Now weโre spreading the love and giving back. So, every book that Iโve received is sitting in my lounge and Iโm single-handedly doing it. Iโve put her pink logo sticker, which says Spreading the Love for Jaime Rose onto every single book. Iโve then divided the books [by age]. Iโve taken some bookshelves, painted them pink and added her little poster that says For the love of Jaime on canvas, and then filled them with books for the appropriate age. So, if the kids go and sit, at least theyโll be inspired, and they can say, โOh, whoโs Jaime?โ or โWhatโs that about?โ And I named it Jaimeโs Book Club because clubs bring people together.โ
Martine then donates the shelves of books to organisations and institutions in need: โIโve given to the Jewish edu-care centre in Maitland and to Nazareth House. Iโm going to give to an old age home near Greyton. Iโve given to the Red Cross [and] to the Oncology Lounge in Rondebosch Clinic where we [received treatment] and Iโm going to ask at Vincent Pallotti next.
โIโm doing it slightly slower because Iโm doing it by myself, step-by-step, but people can continue to drop off and if it gets to a point where itโs too much for me to manage, then I will ask kids to come and help me. And then, maybe what weโll do is go read to people. So, itโs hopefully the start of something bigger.โ
Martine says, โSome places seem to have had a shelf or two already but I was like, โNo, it must be pretty; it must be pink. It must be Jaime.โ I can already even hear her going, โUh. No. you canโt put the books like that!โ She was very particular about her books on her shelf being in the right order. But the bigger picture is that kids have something to read. Iโve received everything from โscratch โn sniffโ books to recipe books, so the variety is large.โ
The beautiful thing about words in books is that, once written and read, they exist eternally for each reader.
What could be a more perfect way to keep the memory of Jaime Rose alive than by sharing immortal words with each person who is lucky enough to be part of her ever-growing book club?
For more information visit For the Love of Jaime on Facebook.
Contact Martine Volks directly on 072 627 9656 regarding drop-off arrangements at either her shop, Martineโs on the Bay Boutique, in Sea Point, or at her home which is also located in the area.
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