Over R6 million has been raised under the Comrades Marathon Association’s Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive. These are the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (CHOC), SANParks Honorary Rangers, Community Chest, Rise Against Hunger, Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) and Childline KwaZulu-Natal.
CHOC Cows manager Jayde McCarthy said: “We did super well with our cows being absolutely amoozing!!!!”
On Monday morning, McCarthy said they had raised R2,5m.
“Our highest fundraiser is Ida van de Wetering, who has raised R165k to date.”
McCarthy expressed gratitude to Van de Wetering and said they were proud of her.
McCarthy mentioned that they had approximately 300 runners, but she had not yet checked their performance.
McCarthy said it is incredibly motivating to remember they were doing this for children battling cancer.
On Sunday, the CHOC Cows had a water point in Hillcrest, with an ‘amoozing’ vibe with fun, dancing, mooing and cow bells.
“It was amoozing! There was cow print everywhere, the supporters were phenomenal, handing out high fives, hugs, nutrition, hydration and mootivation! Our sponsor, Balwin, made that spot possible, and we are so grateful!” McCarthy exclaimed.
Ahead of the marathon, SANParks Honorary Rangers’ Peter Zietsman said the 98th edition of the Comrades Marathon was their second opportunity to be of assistance and participate and become beneficiaries.
SANParks Honorary Rangers had a watering hole in Camperdown with two huge blow-up elephants.
Zietsman said that due to fiscal limitations, SANParks has certain capital expenditure requirements that cannot be fulfilled within the current fiscal period.
“So what we do is we launch projects like this and we collect funds that we are able to fill those gaps of needs for SANParks, so they can reach their objectives in terms of community responsibilities and things like that,” Zietsman said.
“So it’s financial, it’s boots on the ground, it’s activities providing assets for SANParks to function correctly.”
Community Chest executive director Gordon McDonald said: “That money will be spent on early childhood development (ECD) because there’s a critical problem with children not getting enough early education, and they’re not finishing school, and they’re not going to university and entering into the cycle of poverty.
“Good early childhood development, nutritious food, and good school stimulation programs are absolutely vital if you want to give a child a chance in life, and every child in every community deserves that chance.”
McDonald said they work with children in vulnerable communities and currently support about 7,800 children every day around Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
“We have focused our Comrades money on ECD for about 18 years now, and it is making a difference, and it’s nice to see.”
Community Chest had a refreshment station outside Kingsmead Toyota, 1.5km from the finish line.
