Yellowknife (May 14/04) - Susanna Botha has sent 22 boxes of childrens' clothing and toys to an orphanage in Zimbabwe, and she is not going to stop now.

A raffle last Saturday at the Elk's Club raised $6,000 for the cause.

"The money will be exclusively used for shipping costs," Botha said.

Sending a 20 kilogram box of clothes to Africa costs $130.

Botha has a room in her house filled with clothing waiting to go to children at the orphanage in Harare, Zimbabwe.

When Botha began sending her overseas aid 18 months ago she was collecting most of the clothing from the dump.

Now that the word is out she receives many donations from Northerners.

"I really don't have to go to the dump anymore," Botha said.

While raffle tickets were being sold in the mall, one young boy asked about the project and donated his hat to the orphans.

A Yellowknife cab driver donated some extra change, which turned out to total more than $350.

Botha is also grateful for the raffle prize donations. First prize was two return tickets to Edmonton from Canadian North, second was a diamond pendant polished by Susanna's husband Mike and set by Yellowknife jeweller R.T. Turner. Third place was a $200 gift certificate from L'Heritage.