“About 10 years ago, Ms Jeanne Grierson and her daughter Ms Sacha Grierson (two ex South African’s) came into Monkeybiz to meet with me to explain what work they did” explains Joan Krupp, Customer Relations Manager of Monkeybiz.
“They have a fantastic cake, cup-cake and biscuit business in Toronto – Eat My Words, which supplies these superb creations to various companies and private individuals, for special events. These beautiful ‘goodies’ are placed in marvelous boxes to be delivered to their customers. They just loved the ethos of Monkeybiz- that it was a non-profit, creating South African bead artist’s, helping disadvantaged ladies to empower themselves, and the cherry on the top was that it was `eye candy’,. They wanted to give back to our community in some way.”
They asked Joan to come up with an idea, and she suggested that they use Monkeybiz tiny dolls as handles on top of the boxes. “The rest is history. Jeanne and Sasha have been supporting the project ever since. Not only do they purchase a great deal of dolls, but now they purchase herds of animals.”
(C) Kristina Laukkanen
This cake was made for Mr Stephen Lewis’s 75h birthday. The artist, whose work adorns the cake, is Ms Mona October. She creates the dolls in her spare time and has worked with Monkeybiz since 2001. The proceeds of Eat My words all go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, making the “ethos” all the more a suitable pairing. The Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) works with grassroots organizations turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa . Since 2003, they have funded over 700 initiatives, partnering with over 300 community-based organizations in 15 countries.
Monkeybiz is listed on the Cape Town Green Map.
