By Ashley Nel | Marketing Manager
The sweethearts Foundation Project Update
The sweethearts Foundation aims to help underprivileged people receive the gift of movement in the form of a wheelchair. Our beneficiaries come from the most marginalised communities in South Africa and something as simple as a wheelchair is often out of their reach due to financial issues and long government backlogs. The sweethearts Foundation which gave away our first wheelchair on Valentine's Day 2013 is run completely by volunteers, who we endearingly call “sweethearts”. They are the ones who make the magic happen and help change the lives of our beneficiaries, as well as their families.
Joel’s Wheelchair Handover
On Saturday, 13 May, we handed over a wheelchair to Joel, a diabetic who lost his leg due to a wire piercing his left foot. Joel, from Pretoria, South Africa, and a panel beater by trade, has been supporting the foundation by collecting bottle tops and bread tags for the past 2 years and had no idea that he himself would one day require a wheelchair. Due to unforeseen medical complications, Joel’s left leg had to be amputated below the knee.
Since receiving his new wheelchair, Joel has been able to return to work and is very happy with his new set of wheels.
Elsie receives her wheels!
Elsie, who lives in a retirement park in Johannesburg, South Africa recently received her new set of wheels! She was so delighted to have received this wheelchair and will help her move about since she has been struggling to get from place to place.
We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to handover this wheelchair to Elsie who too has been an avid collector of #TopsAndTags for The sweethearts Foundation.
WE WON THE GLOBALGIVING VIDEO OF THE YEAR 2017!!!
We recently won GlobalGiving’s Video of The Year competition and were showcased by GlobalGiving on their international platform. As a result of this amazing opportunity, we received additional funding from donors to the value of $1600! This would not have been possible without the wonderful community of Global Givers. We are truly humbled to have won and look forward to more exciting ventures in the future!
AND...
One of our beneficiaries, Martha from Cape Town, South Africa, has patiently been waiting to receive her wheels. Martha is in dire need of an electronic wheelchair as she suffers from severe arthritis. If this wasn't tough enough, Martha’s leg was amputated due to medical malpractice a number of years ago. Martha has completely forgiven the staff at the hospital where this happened and only asked that they learn from their mistakes to ensure this does not happen to someone else. Isn't Martha AMAZING!!!!???
Since the cost of electronic wheelchairs are very high we rely on special fundraisers to help beneficiaries in need such as Martha.
We are pleased to announce that with the donations we've received from the GlobalGiving community we have now fully funded Martha’s electronic wheelchair and are busy organising a wheelchair handover for her! But wait… It’s a surprise! Shhhhh!!!! Keep this news TOP SECRET!! We can’t wait to see Martha’s reaction once she receives her gift!
We wish Joel, Elsie and our other beneficiaries safe travels in their new wheels. A huge thank you to all our volunteers and donors for supporting our little foundation!
Have a wonderful day sweethearts, you're changing lives!
Love,
The sweethearts
xxx
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