In a year that was the ultimate high tackle on all rugby fans, Vodacom Super Rugby has still found a way to make a positive impact on the Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa (CHOC) with an R1-million donation in support of the children who’ve had to face even tougher tackles throughout their young lives.
The cheque handover took place at the Soweto CHOC house.
CHOC was the official charity for a 2020 Vodacom Super Rugby season that was going to see R100 donated by Vodacom and SuperSport for every tackle made by a South African player, and R1 of every fan’s ticket also going towards the #TacklingCancer initiative.
When the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the season, both Vodacom and SuperSport agreed to each donate R500 000 to CHOC in a bid to ensure that the children who already have to fight the biggest battles of their lives still get the critical support they need.
“We first started the #TacklingCancer initiative in 2019 and we raised R1-m for CHOC. The response was so powerful that we decided to do that again this season.
“Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and stopped the Vodacom Super Rugby competition. But as Vodacom we are dedicated to supporting CHOC and together with SuperSport we wanted to honour that commitment,” said Liam Dobell, head of rugby at Vodacom.
CHOC provides vital support by housing children receiving treatment for cancer and transporting them, their families and caregivers to the hospital for their treatment.
“It resonates with me personally because I have two family members who have survived cancer. So seeing what they went through, and being a young father myself, it gave me a totally new perspective on what the families of these children go through,” said Dobell.
The CHOC homes are an important place of refuge for these children and their families during this difficult time, and these homes rely solely on donations to keep providing this service.
“As with so many others cases, Covid-19 hit us hard. It changed everything in terms of the way people donate to charity, and our income fell immediately. We had to retrench a few people and we also had to cut salaries. But our services still had to continue,” said Nagm Azar, CEO of CHOC.
At the handover, Vodacom also unveiled the Soweto CHOC house’s new Teen Room.
“We were joined by players from the Vodacom Bulls and Emirates Lions who helped us put some finishing touches on the Teenage Room, and it looks amazing. It made an impact on the players as well. They were the first to admit that although they were clearly the biggest and strongest people there, the real superheroes were these children who have been battling cancer,” said Dobell.
