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Warming the Children of Swaziland

For the past several years, inside the Papa Murphy’s pizza franchise on Egg Harbor Road in Sturgeon Bay, customers have been leaving blankets, hats, mittens, and suitcases in or adjacent to a cardboard box that sits on the floor underneath a homemade posterboard sign. The sign, adorned with photographs, announces the yearly collection goal for blankets to be delivered in May to Swaziland, a tiny, landlocked, African country surrounded on three sides by South Africa and on the fourth by Mozambique.

More often than not, the driving force behind this annual effort will be the same face that greets you, takes your order, and prepares your pizza:  Patty Tebon.

Outgoing and personable to the Papa Murphy patrons, she remains somewhat shy when discussing what she has accomplished in a few short years, but her eyes light up when she talks about the children of Swaziland. Yet as remarkable as her accomplishments are, the story of how it all began is even more remarkable.

Shortly after she separated from her husband, Patty and her two elementary-age sons went to church to hear a presentation by the organization World Vision (now called One Child Matters), which encourages sponsorships of children in third world countries.dscf3158_0220

“My boys were really excited about sponsoring a child,” Patty explains. “I was working part-time jobs at the time and had very little money, but I told them to go up after the presentation to get more information.

“They came back and offered to give up their allowances so we could sponsor a child. I was only giving them 50 cents each per week, but they were so insistent that I said yes and trusted that we would find a way. We ended up sponsoring a boy in Swaziland named Kwanell Shongwe.”

From this point, it is difficult not to feel that destiny or fate took over Patty’s life. Several months after her family began sponsoring Kwanell, Patty heard that WPFF radio was sponsoring a mission trip to Swaziland. Her friends and her boys encouraged Patty to go along on the trip.

“The trip required a $300 deposit,” Patty says, “and I didn’t know where I was going to get the money. But everyone – particularly my boys – kept saying I should go. So finally I said let’s count all the change in our change jars and see what we have. So one night we sat counting and we had $300.01. That just seemed to be a sign that I was meant to go to Swaziland.”

That first trip took place in 2009 and Patty would make two additional trips with mission groups, but an experience on that first trip led Patty to what became her personal mission.

“One day a little girl came up to me and said she was cold,” Patty explains. “I was wearing an oversize sweatshirt so I picked her up and tucked her inside it and carried her around for most of the day. That’s when I thought of bringing blankets over for the children.”dscf3243_0144

For her 2010 trip, Patty brought along 250 blankets collected from family, friends and fellow workers. The next year, her last year traveling with a mission group, the number grew tenfold to 2,513 blankets.

“I loved traveling with the mission groups,” Patty explains, “but I began to feel that I wanted less separation from the people, so now I go every May [the beginning of the cold season in Swaziland], stay in hostels, and live right in among the people. And now we can distribute the blankets outside of care centers – we can reach more people.”

For her first independent trip in 2012 she took along 7,358 blankets and, this past year the number grew to 10,009. This May, Patty’s goal is an ambitious 15,000 blankets. “But I am already almost halfway there,” Patty is quick to point out.

Patty notes that there were two factors that led to the growth in the number of donated blankets. One factor was an article by Pam Parks that appeared in the Door County Advocate. The other factor was the support she received from Deb Homan, the owner of the Papa Murphy’s franchise and Patty’s employer, who allowed her to set up the collection box within the business.

“Sometimes I will come home and find a bag full of blankets on my doorstep,” Patty says, “but most of the blankets are left at Papa Murphy’s.”

So where do you store 10,000 to 15,000 blankets?

“I pack all the blankets that I can in the suitcases people donate and then store the suitcases in my garage,” Patty explains. “All the other blankets get folded and stacked in my bedroom. By March, I have a narrow path that leads to my bed and not much else in the way of room.”

Of course, there is the annual chore of getting all the blankets to Swaziland; a trip that involves flying into Johannesburg and then traveling several hours overland.dscf3652_0328

“We carry as many suitcases as we can for free, the rest have to be shipped,” Patty states.

This past year a friend of a friend of a friend who works at an international shipping company offered to transport the blankets at cost. The blankets were first air-sealed and then packed into 15 very large boxes. “We recycle the air-seals,” Patty explains, “but they still last only a few years.”

Even at cost, the shipping expenses came to $2,400, which was paid for by well-wishers and supporters.

Everything that Patty takes is distributed. By the time she leaves at the end of May, all the blankets are in the hands of children and mothers. The suitcases are handed out to serve as medicine cabinets, cribs, to store school supplies or whatever else they can dream up. And Patty comes home in her slippers – leaving behind her shoes and all her extra clothes.

And as remarkable as Patty’s efforts are they are at least equaled by the Door Peninsula community. In a county with a year-round population of a little less than 28,000 residents, the donation of more than 10,000 blankets last year for the children of a tiny country half a world away is astounding.

Still, none of this would be possible without Patty’s unwavering commitment.

“What she does is incredible,” says Deb Homan, owner of the Papa Murphy’s franchise. “One of these days, sometime in the future, we are going to lose Patty to Africa. But we will keep her and support her as long as she wants to stay.”dscf3714_0268

“Oh, that day will come,” Patty smiles when she is told of Deb’s comment. “I love being over there and one day I will just stay there. But hopefully I will be able to keep the connection to Door County and together we can continue to make a difference in the lives of those wonderful children.”

Giving Information

To help Patty Tebon in her mission of bringing blankets to Swaziland, send donations to Sturgeon Bay Community Church, c/o Swaziland blankets, PO Box 703, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. Electronic giving will be available soon, hopefully by the beginning of April, at sbcommunitychurch.com.

Photos submitted by Patty Tebon.