South Africans Crowdfund Over R50-Million To Help One Another!
A crowdfunding platform – based on donations – says over R50-million has been raised in South Africa by over 70,000 generous contributors! BackaBuddy says it has witnessed the power of humanity, the kindness of strangers, and the unifying force in South Africa as communities come together to support people, regardless of their differences. “We need […]
A crowdfunding platform – based on donations – says over R50-million has been raised in South Africa by over 70,000 generous contributors!
BackaBuddy says it has witnessed the power of humanity, the kindness of strangers, and the unifying force in South Africa as communities come together to support people, regardless of their differences.
“We need to build bridges in South Africa across social, political and racial divides. Each campaign launched has the capacity to draw people together around common causes that we believe in, binding us together as a nation through positive stories and impact,” says BackaBuddy, CEO, Patrick Schofield.
To celebrate the milestone of raising R50-million for various charities and causes, the platform has taken a look back at some of its campaigns:
When two boys lost their father…
On the 30th of April 2017, UCT alumni, RUSSELL MARTIN sadly passed away, leaving behind his wife IIze, his two young boys, Oliver and Conner and his friends and family with a lot of questions and a tremendous feeling of loss. To console the Martin family and to honour Russell’s memory, his 2007 MBA classmates from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business set up a campaign. The campaign was aimed at securing enough funds to send Russell’s two sons to university when they are old enough to realize their education dreams. With tremendous support R167 307.90 was generated in Russell’s honour, that will allow the two boys to follow their dreams.
For the little girl, born deaf…
Neave Barrett was born on 23 September 2016. After failing her hearing test doctors discovered she was born deaf. Fortunately, the Barett’s had medical aid that covered a portion of the funds needed for her R517 020 Cochlear implant. A crowdfunding campaign was set up in February 2016 to raise R60 000 for the procedure, within 3 months the campaign had raised R 58 263.25. Thankfully, the crowd quickly responded to Neave’s heartfelt story, allowing her the opportunity to develop spoken language at the same rate as her hearing peers.
For the brave passenger who was thrown off a train…
DARREN AUGUST was thrown out of a moving train after trying to protect two ladies from a robbery on his way to work in May 2016. Graeme Kuys, inspired by his friend’s bravery and selfless act, set out to cycle 8,848 km, the length of Mount Everest, in the hope to raise R30 000 towards Darryn’s unforeseen medical expenses. To Graeme’s surprise, his gesture generated more than half a million rand towards his friend’s recovery.
“When Darryn August had his back broken in his attempt to stop 3 robbers assaulting people on a train, the story could have been about yet another life ruined through a violent, traumatic incident in South Africa. Instead the story became one of how over 700 South Africans stood up and said, we respect him, we will support him and we will aim to emulate him in our lives. Darryn, has become a everyday-hero that every person can look up to,” says Patrick Schofield
For Cody, the Knysna fire victim who followed his heart and limped all the way home…
During the disastrous Knysna Fires on the 7th of June 2017, we were inundated with campaigns, the devastation destroyed homes, businesses and separated families. One pony, by the name of Cody suffered severe burns all over his body and fled his home to escape the blaze. He returned home after 3 weeks without food or water and found himself in desperate need of rehabilitation. Owner Karen Lambrechts set up a campaign to cover Cody’s medical costs, estimated at R40 000. Donors responded to Cody’s story with open hearts and his campaign raised a total of R 129 648.82!
By the time the fires were put out a total of R2.08 million was raised to support victims of the Knysna Fires.
For the salon owner diagnosed with breast cancer…
Tackling stage 3 breast cancer with a courageous sense of humour, MANDY LOTTERING, a beloved salon owner from Pietermaritzburg, crowdfunded over R95 500 towards her R120 000 double mastectomy which took place on the 6th of November 2017. With an entire community at her side and local housewives campaigning on her behalf, Mandy is currently recovering from her life changing procedure.
Smile South Africa…
The Smile Foundation have also run consecutive successful campaigns on BackaBuddy, generating an astounding R1.3 million through various events to restore broken smiles in South Africa. To date they have been able to perform over 1000 free corrective Plastic and Reconstructive surgeries and have changed the lives of countless families!
The spirit of Ubuntu…
BackaBuddy was started by Allan Beauthin, who sadly passed away in 2015. Today Catherine du Plooy, Chief Operations Officer, says the company is continuing his legacy in South Africa, and “through dealing with these remarkable campaigns we are reminded of the spirit of Ubuntu that runs through our veins…”