Wherever there is disaster or dire need, The Gift of the Givers Foundation is bound to follow, as in Mbekweni on Youth Day following last week’s devastating floods that swept many homes underwater.
Their teams were deployed at its community hall, honouring their commitment to serving the troubled and vulnerable on a Friday, a holy day in Islam.
In a statement, Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay said municipalities, disaster management and desperate communities along the N1, N2 and N7 called in desperate need for humanitarian assistance. Teams responded swiftly with plastic overalls from the Life Hospital Group, warm meals and blankets (now depleted).
The Gift of the Givers managed to procure 1 400 blankets in Cape Town, while supplies from their Johannesburg facility were en route over the weekend. Blankets, mattresses, non-perishable foods, hygiene items, sanitary pads, diapers and bottled water were the main focus for tending basic needs. The founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, is convinced that South Africans can fix South Africa.
“No challenge is insurmountable when people look beyond the brands, labels, uniforms and titles, when politics matters not,” he said, “when the focus is unconditional service to a fellow South African, irrespective of class, colour, race, social strata, BEE points or tax certificates. When all that matters is bringing hope, ease and relief.”
Sooliman pointed to how these Western Cape floods presented an example of the power of unity and harmony that follow when South Africans work together for their fellow countrymen and -women, “where there is total cooperation between public and private, when municipalities, provincial and local disaster management, [police], [Rotary International], [Search & Rescue], counsellors, community members, helicopter crews, divers, ambulance personnel, farmers, donors, media and Givers teams work as one.”
Despite countless inaccessible roads, fallen trees, raging rivers, low lying bridges, heavy winds, continuous rain, fallen power lines, collapsed cellphone towers, mud slides or closed tunnels, The Gift of the Givers “made it happen together”.
The response from people was heart warming, Sooliman said, with deliveries into Mbekweni, Strand, Faure, Grabouw, Caledon, KTC, Nyanga, Bonteheuwel, Khayelitsha, Langa, Bishop Lavis, Mitchell’s Plain, Atlantis and Villiersdorp. However, this kind of an operation comes at a huge cost, he added.
“Gift of the Givers has already exceeded R10 million in its intervention costs, in logistics, transport, provision of blankets, mattresses, hygiene packs, bottled water, diapers, sanitary pads and daily hot meals to thousands of affected people.
“Many more of these items plus new clothing, stationery, uniforms, food parcels and building material will be required. The envisaged cost to surpass R20 million. We thank those corporates and individuals helping us fill that gap in cash and kind, all partners in the success story of South Africans helping South Africans.”. Contributions: Gift of the Givers, Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg, Acc 052137228, Branch Code 057525, ref SA disaster. Please send deposit slip to donations@giftofthegivers.org for a tax deductible Section 18A certificate.
