{"id":7065,"date":"2025-11-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/?p=7065"},"modified":"2025-11-17T07:14:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T05:14:59","slug":"a-gift-of-comfort-breastfeeding-benches-for-local-clinics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/articles\/a-gift-of-comfort-breastfeeding-benches-for-local-clinics\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gift of Comfort: Breastfeeding Benches for Local Clinics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On <strong>6 October 2025<\/strong>, a simple but powerful act of kindness brought new hope and comfort to mothers across three local clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story begins with a shared vision between <strong>Proudly Harties<\/strong> a vision to make everyday life just a little easier for mothers in need. Recognising the challenges faced by women who bring their children to clinics, where seating is scarce and breastfeeding often happens in uncomfortable spaces, they sought out a practical solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s where <strong>McDonald\u2019s Hartbeespoort and McDonald\u2019s Brits<\/strong> stepped in as proud sponsors. Their support made it possible to design and donate specialised benches, created to give mothers dignity, comfort, and a safe space to feed their little ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Community Coming Together<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the morning of the delivery, the benches made their way to three local clinics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Madibeng Local Clinic (Brits)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hartbeespoort Local Clinic<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Broederstroom Local Clinic<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>With the help of Green Green and Harties Business Centre, the benches were offloaded, placed, and welcomed with gratitude. Staff and patients alike were deeply moved. Mothers especially expressed how much difference this small addition would make in their daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn\u2019t just the arrival of furniture it was a moment that showed the community they were seen, valued, and supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More Than Just Benches<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the handovers, it quickly became clear just how great the need is especially at the <strong>Madibeng Clinic in Brits<\/strong>. The clinic is severely under-resourced. Many patients are forced to wait for hours without proper seating, some even sitting on the floor while waiting for care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The benches answered an urgent need for breastfeeding mothers, but they also highlighted a bigger challenge: the desperate shortage of chairs and general seating for all patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these challenges, the mood was uplifting. The gratitude of the mothers, the smiles from staff, and the positive reception from the community all spoke volumes. This initiative wasn\u2019t just about infrastructure it was about restoring dignity and showing care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The success of this project sparked new recommendations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"1\">\n<li><strong>More benches for Madibeng Clinic<\/strong> \u2013 to meet the basic needs of patients waiting for care.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sustained partnerships<\/strong> \u2013 between McDonald\u2019s, Proudly Harties, and Harties Business Centre, ensuring that this kind of impact doesn\u2019t stop here but grows into future initiatives.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Lasting Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The breastfeeding benches are more than just wooden seats placed in a clinic. They are symbols of care, of community, and of the difference that collaboration can make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For McDonald\u2019s Hartbeespoort and Brits, it\u2019s a chance to show that their golden arches shine far beyond fast food they shine in service to the community. For Proudly Harties, it\u2019s another reminder that small acts of service can create ripples of change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And for the mothers who now have a safe place to rest and feed their children, it\u2019s a daily reminder that they are not forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2728 <em>This project is proof that when businesses and communities work together, meaningful change is not only possible it\u2019s inevitable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"344\" data-id=\"7067\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f4f5f712-e552-406c-a62d-ccbf129cbee8.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f4f5f712-e552-406c-a62d-ccbf129cbee8.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f4f5f712-e552-406c-a62d-ccbf129cbee8-300x134.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The story begins with a shared vision between Proudly Harties a vision to make everyday life just a little easier for mothers in need. Recognising the challenges faced by women who bring their children to clinics, where seating is scarce and breastfeeding often happens in uncomfortable spaces, they sought out a practical solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,27],"tags":[39,48],"class_list":["post-7065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-schoolscharity","tag-hartbeespoort","tag-north-west"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3.png",5712,4284,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-300x225.png",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-768x576.png",640,480,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-1024x768.png",640,480,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-1536x1152.png",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-2048x1536.png",2048,1536,true],"magazine-7-slider-full":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-1536x1020.png",1536,1020,true],"magazine-7-slider-center":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-936x897.png",936,897,true],"magazine-7-featured":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-1024x768.png",1024,768,true],"magazine-7-medium":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-720x380.png",720,380,true],"magazine-7-medium-square":["https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1929-3-675x450.png",675,450,true]},"author_info":{"info":["TheLife Team"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/category\/articles\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Articles &amp; Advertisers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/category\/articles\/schoolscharity\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Schools and Charity<\/a>","tag_info":"Schools and Charity","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7065"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7079,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065\/revisions\/7079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}