Nikita makes a difference

At 18 years of age, it’s not all youngsters who know what their purpose in life is.

But Nikita Loreggian is an exception.

The Bedfordview resident recently launched her charity drive, through which she aims to touch the lives of animals in the care of the Bedfordview/Germiston SPCA.

Nikita said when retail giant Pick n Pay launched its Super Animals campaign she was touched to see customers selling their cards at high prices and for personal gain.

“Seeing the different adverts on social media by people wanting to sell their cards awakened something in me. I decided to take a stance. I knew I wanted to do something different that would benefit not just me, but the community as well,” she said.

In came Nikita’s SPCA Dog Food Drive.

Through the initiative, Nikita collected bags of dog food for the SPCA in exchange for her Super Animals cards.

“To get between one to 10 cards, one would donate a bag of dog food and for anything between 11 to 20, I asked for two bags,” she said.

As of last Saturday, Nikita had collected over 500kg worth of dog food.

Residents have since congratulated the grade 11 pupil who attends St Andrew’s School for Girls.

“Well done Nikita. So pleased the doggies and kitties will be well fed. You have a big heart. Thank you for helping them,” one resident posted on social media.

During her spare time, Nikita volunteers at the Germiston-based organisation.

“In the days that I have spent time at the SPCA, I realised how little food they have and my heart broke for the poor animals,” said Nikita.

She said she has a brother and younger sister whom she enjoys spending time with.

When she finishes school, Nikita said she would like to be a biokineticist.

She currently has five dogs, Magic, Trigger, Jacky, Cheecky and Hicker.