Words: Andrea Vinassa
Casual Day has teamed up with LeadSA to help an anonymous good Samaritan realise his birthday wish to hand out 50 wheelchairs to 50 people, rather than have a 50th birthday party, to honour his wonderful grandmother.
Courtesy of: Casual Day
The Casual Day team decided to reach out a hand of friendship to the Adelaide Tambo School for children with disabilities in White City, Jabavu, in Soweto. This school, which has 320 learners with physical and learning disabilities and has not participated in Casual Day before.
Casual Day sponsored each of the children with an official Casual Day T-shirt and the school with R2 000 worth of stationery. On top of that, the team handed over five of the 50 wheelchairs to the school. Casual Day ambassadors Nicole Laxton, SimphiweMkhize and Bernadette Rigney were there to hand over the goodies.
The Principal Mr LindelaMemani said: ‘A big thank you to Casual Day and the anonymous donor, Mr 50. We are so humbled and amazed that people would reach out to us out here. To the anonymous donor somewhere out there, we hope he gets the message of thanks from the school and may God bless him.’ Nicole said: ‘I am extremely humbled that there are facilities of this nature for children with disabilities. These children stole my heart.’ Simphiwe said: ‘Wow, this school is amazing and how wonderful to experience seeing these children in this environment in the area from where I come.’ Bernadette said: ‘I visited the school two years ago and it was so wonderful to see such a big improvement. There is always a need and at least 30 children here still need funding for wheelchairs.’
Casual Day is South Africa’s most successful fundraising project for persons with disabilities – and the amount raised for last year has climbed to R24.8 million. Sponsored by The Edcon Group, Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa (NCPPDSA), which this year celebrates 75 years of service to the community of persons with disabilities.
According to Project Leader Celeste Vinassa, who was unable to attend the handover: ‘We want all schools serving learners with disabilities to be able to participate in Casual Day. So far Adelaide Tambo has been unable to participate in Casual Day and this is our way of including them. Although the school can raise funds for itself via the project, they do not have the resources to do so. I am told that most of the learners come from disadvantaged families, others are orphans raised by grandparents, and their social grants maintain families. ‘We therefore appeal to all the businesses in the area to bring out the bling and help the school join the extended Casual Day family.’
The school provides education to learners and learning starts from Grade 1 – 12 for day scholars and boarders. The school caters for learners with learning barriers on a wide spectrum physically challenged and slow learners but following the normal curriculum. The school has 150 learners residing at the hostel and has five vehicles transporting other learners to and from school. These buses operate within Soweto locations on different routes. Says Vinassa ‘The school has huge needs and we need the community here to help us make life easier for the teachers and carers. Casual Day provides the country with the opportunity to show their solidarity with persons with disabilities, at the same time enjoying teambuilding and camaraderie with their fellow participants. It gives South Africans the opportunity to be creative and have fun while contributing to the betterment of society. It is community spirit in action. So Bring out the Bling on Friday 5 September.
If you would like to assist Adelaide Tambo School become a Casual Day participant and raise funds through this nationally recognised brand. You can contact the organisers of the project on 011 609 7006 or visit our website at www.casualday.co.za The funds are raised as a result of a R10 donation for a Casual Day sticker. Stickers are available from: Edgars, Jet, JetMart, Boardmans, CNA, Red Square and Legit; Absa outlets; Game and DionWired stores; Shoprite and Checkers stores; and you can also donate online.
Keep abreast of activities at Casual Day on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CasualDaySA / Twitter: @CasualDay_SA / #BringouttheBling / #CasualDay
