BROTHER and sister fitness fanatics, Ronald and Shayna Smith, will take on the 42km Mandela Marathon in August of this year to raise money for The Association for the Aged (Tafta) as their Mandela Day act of service.
The Hillcrest-based sibling duo, who’ve only recently become regular runners, have set up a GivenGain fund-raising page to raise R5 000 for Tafta. They said they’ve identified the elder care association as their charity of choice in recognition of what Tafta does for the elderly of Durban.
“We lost both our grandmothers, whom we were extremely close to, within a year and a half of each other. Having seen them both spend their last days in a hospice, it really struck us how older people were so alienated and neglected at their time of greatest need,” explained Shayna (24).
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“I spent time with older people I saw were alone, and even sat with a particular lady who was alone as she passed on. It was devastating and had a significant impact on us.
“When the opportunity came up to do something about it, we looked up online and saw the work Tafta does and we decided to support them as our charity of choice,” she said.
Ronald (33) said youth and child-related causes were usually the charity of choice and he was determined to help and bring awareness to the plight of the elderly.
“The elderly are amazing life storytellers and keepers of great knowledge. We believe it is a basic human right for the elderly to be provided with the best possible care. We love everything Tafta stands for. They do amazing work, and we will do all that we can to help assist them,” he said.
The passionate duo, who train together on a daily basis, first embarked on their fitness journey in December 2017. This was in a bid to lose weight after two of their uncles underwent triple by-pass surgeries. Since then, Ronald has lost a whopping 30kgs and Shayna has lost 10kgs.
“Since starting on this journey, I’ve realised how important it is to take care of myself. We’ve come incredibly far from our first 10km back in January of this year and we’re determined to go all the way to the 42 km in August for this worthy cause,” said Ronald.
To donate, visit, https://www.givengain.com/ap/runningkin/.
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