Golfing for a good cause
DAINFERN – Dainfern Golf Estates host exclusive golf day aimed at raising funds for 11-year-old boy living with autism.
Dainfern Golf Estate hosted a fundraising exclusive golf day on 1 August aimed at raising finds for Reece Kaplan, an 11-year-old living with classic autism.
Reece shared his touching story in a letter. “I have not attained fluency in English just yet and, as such, my family has taken my wishes on behalf of me, and put it into words. My wishes being, I wish to remain in school and potentially be able to go into a fast-paced, standardised school environment in the future, and with your help, I believe I can.
“I used to live in Cape Town, attending Vera – School for Autism, and when we came to Johannesburg in 2015, we were disappointed to see a very big lack of schools for kids like me, and those that were here, being very expensive. “I have a loving family that helps me in every way, but sadly no dad, meaning that despite how hard my mom tries, I lack the financial support to stay in school, causing me to have missed three years of school.
“However, as of August 2018, I was sponsored to be able to go to Amazing K School for Learners with Autism. But sadly, that sponsorship is coming to an end.”
The 11-year-old is adamant that he will reach high school despite his condition. “I currently learn under the Caps curriculum, catered to my needs, and considering I haven’t been in school for three years prior to last year August, I have made immense progress.
“I can now do basic mathematical problems, identify letters of the alphabet, as well as made a lot of headway in working with others and co-operating in social environments. Despite it being challenging, I really do have the will to go far in life, hopefully even high school.”
His mother, Lucretia Kaplan, described what it was like living with a child with autism. “It is very difficult. He taught himself how to speak at the age of seven via YouTube, he cannot live without the internet and he has got an American accent,” she said.
“In the beginning, I treated him like any other child and we need to understand that his autism is on a broad spectrum.”
Lucretia further pleaded with the public for assistance in funding children living with autism, “These funds are not affordable for some families and there are not enough proper facilities for autism,” she said.
“Autism is real, it’s out there. We need to stand together and fight this condition with affordable help for our children.”
The golfing event on 1 August attracted top business entities who came out in support of Reece.
Event organiser and godfather to Reece, Sean King was satisfied with the response they received. “It was a great event, successful and it was overwhelming to see all the people who came to support us,” King said.
“At the moment I do not have the actual figures of how much we made but I can tell you that we’ve got enough to cover his school fees for the remainder of the year, cover costs for his therapy sessions and required medication.”
Dainfern Golf Estate will host another exclusive golf day in August next year to raise awareness about autism.
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