Meet Dianne Broodryk: She’s been changing lives for 25 years

Sometimes people deserve a standing ovation, especially those Mzansi’s that make a helluva difference in the lives of others.

Doing good is a calling, and sometimes the universe plops someone into a position to make a difference. It’s not everyone who can make hay for others with the tools at their disposal, but Dianne Broodryk is such a person.

Broodryk’ s been with Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels from the get-go.

It’s a weekly insert that helps people in need by getting public or corporate sponsors to solve a desperate need.

And since 2017, she’s been in the captain’s seat of the good ship.

Broodryk has a philosophy, that the simplest act of generosity can spark a chain reaction, touching lives in ways unimaginable.

It’s the best part of the job for her. Radio, with its large platform and ability to connect people, the ideal tool to effect change.

We had this big platform to do good

“Good Morning Angels was not my idea at all,” she said. “Presenter Martin Bester was on the breakfast team when it started 25 years ago and the idea was simple,” Broodryk said. “We have this big platform, and people listen to us. We were getting requests for help and offers of assistance, and our listeners made it almost mandatory for us to use our platform for good.”

It started small by helping a struggling mother replace the tyres on her car so she could get her children to school safely.

“What we did was connect those who need help with those who want to give. We created a platform where generosity and need could meet,” Broodryk shared. “And that’s exactly what still happens every Wednesday morning, nearly a quarter of a century later.”

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Before she managed kindness, Broodryk was a journalist.  

“I studied journalism and always wanted to be a radio journalist,” she said. “I worked at the SABC for seven years, first in radio news, then TV news, and in 1999, I joined Jacaranda FM as a newscast editor. Last year also marked my 25th anniversary at the station.”

While working as part of the breakfast news team, she became involved with Good Morning Angels, and before long, it became more than just another segment to her.

“I always say I didn’t choose Good Morning Angels, it chose me,” she shared. “At first, I was just the news person helping where I could. Then it became my baby. And as it grew, so did the responsibility.”

It had grown so much it needed full time management

By 2017, the initiative had grown to the point where it needed dedicated management.

“I went to our chief executive and said, ‘I think we need a dedicated job for this in the company, and I want to do it.’” Broodryk left hard news behind and became the Head of Purpose and Corporate Social Investment (CSI) at Jacaranda FM.

Good Morning Angels isn’t about handouts but rather about meaningful change, she said.  

“Last year alone, we raised and distributed R15 million worth of assistance,” Broodryk added. “We helped over 3,000 children with education, facilitated lifesaving and life-changing medical procedures to the value of R4.2 million, and donated more than half a million rand to animal causes.”

The need, however, continues to grow.

“There has always been poverty, and there has always been need,” she said. “But I have seen a definite increase in childhood cancer cases in desperate need of treatment and more families who, before the pandemic, were financially stable but are now struggling to afford even the basics. The need for food, housing, and school fees has definitely grown.”

She currently receives between 100 and 200 requests for help every day. But, she added, the public’s generosity has grown almost concomitant to that.

I can change the world for one person

Deciding who to help is the hardest part. “And the reality is, we can’t help everyone. That is the biggest burden,” she said.

At one point, the weight of the responsibility became overwhelming.

“A few years in, I felt completely drained,” she said. “Then one day, I was picking up my daughter from preschool, and I saw a quote on the notice board. It said: ‘I can’t change the world, but I can change the world of one person.’ That changed my whole perspective.

“Instead of focusing on how much we couldn’t do, I started focusing on what we could do. We can’t fix everything for everyone, but we can set an example. The real growth of Good Morning Angels is in how it encourages others to go out and do good in their own way.”

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