12 Days of Christmas: Wheelchair Edition 2021

Background

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 marginalized 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.

 It’s 2021, and we are rolling out the wheelchairs!

It’s thanks to our enthusiastic, energetic and absolutely awesome sweethearts, like you, who continue to help us, support us and motivate us to give all that we can to those who need our help.

12 Days of Christmas campaign

Our 12 Days of Christmas: Wheelchair Edition campaign was started in 2016 and in 2021 we boomed! We were completely overwhelmed with support and received donations from all around the world.

44% of donations made towards our fundraiser were made on Giving Tuesday and match funding from GlobalGiving helped raise some extra much needed funds! We raised a grand total of R88,965.87 which have been distributed between the beneficiaries.

The total amount raised to date so far for this project is down by R 15,034.13

Thanks to the generosity of everyone who contributed to our project, 12 days of Christmas campaign, we were able to fully fund 3 of the 10 beneficiaries and partially fund the remaining 7 beneficiaries.

These 3 beneficiaries are well on their way to receive specialized wheelchairs.

The shortfall of funds needed for the remaining beneficiaries are R 131,579.97

We need to help Sharmique, Liyabona , Elsanne, Mihlaemihle, Themba, Onwabo & Thuso receive their wheelchairs. If you would like to donate towards helping these wonderful people receive the Gift of Movement, please follow this link: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/help-gift-disabled-south-africans-a-wheelchair/

Links:

• Sweethearts Website
• Sweethearts Facebook Page
• Sweethearts Instagram Page

Dear sweetheart,

Our annual fundraiser, 12 Days of Christmas, was a huge success thanks to YOU!

We were able to exceed our goal of raising $5000 before Christmas 2021, mostly thanks to everyone who contributed to this GlobalGiving project, and were able to fully fund Ibrahim, Onwabo, and Malebo's wheelchairs! Woohoo!

We made huge strides in helping our other beneficiaries but will need to continue fundraising into 2022 for their specialised wheelchairs. Here is the current status:

• Sharmique is so close to getting her wheelchair, she needs another R4 090 ($278)
• Liya's electric wheelchair is halfway funded and needs a big push to get fully funded but we believe we will get there! She needs another R20 800 ($1 414)
• Elsanne has another R25150 ($1700) to go
• Thiza is smoking hot and needs R1 120 ($76) to fully fund his wheelchair
• Our boys, Mihlaemihle and Themba, still have a way to go... R8 500 ($580) each
• And last but not least, Thuso, who needs R10 300 ($700)

Many of our beneficiaries have tried working through government institutions to obtain a wheelchair and the system has failed them. We've asked why beneficiaries approached us for help and had the following responses... "There is no other way, we tried to get a wheelchair for two years before we heard of and approached The sweethearts Foundation"...“Its 3 year since he is looking for better wheelchair.", "His current wheelchair was provided by XXX but lacks key support for his shoulders and head, causing his head to move from side to side."

We believe in providing a perfectly suited wheelchair for each beneficiary. This comes at a cost and takes more time to fundraise, but in the end, handing over these specialised wheelchairs is so rewarding and keeps us going.

Thanks again for your generous support! We do hope you will continue to follow our progress in helping these special beneficiaries. 

Yours in wheels,

The sweethearts Foundation

Links:

• For all the stories and updates have a look at our Facebook page