Friday’s Casual Day campaign supports the disabled community

CASUAL Day is due to be held this Friday, September 2.

According to the NPO, the campaign invites all fun-loving South Africans to dress differently for a day, in order to raise funds and awareness of persons with disabilities. The largest fundraising project for the disabled community in the country requires people to purchase Casual Day stickers, either digitally or physically from a local organisation or business.

Chairperson of the QuadPara Association in KZN (QUAK), Angel Sithole says that support for the disabled community is vital. QUAK is Pinetown based and has Casual Day stickers available for purchase, from the Ashley premises.

Why is support for this community important?

Sithole says that having a disability makes life expensive with added costs for necessary equipment, like wheelchairs and specialized mattresses to prevent bed-pressure sores, and additional essential services like caregiving and assistance. Electric wheelchairs are priced from R35 000 upwards, and the manual version starts at R2 500.

“The majority of our members are desperate because it costs R2 500 for a manual wheelchair, which you are completely reliant on and will need to use indefinitely. Should you receive a disability grant, you must use that to buy groceries and pay for accommodation. If you go to the clinic, you must hire a car for the day as your wheelchair won’t fit into a taxi, and pay your caregiver who comes to the clinic with you. The caregiver must be compensated because even if it is a relative who looks after you, they will need to leave their employment to do so,” says Sithole.

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Sithole is a quadriplegic with no use of her legs and limited mobility in her arms and hands. Her manual wheelchair, which she used daily for seven years, recently broke beyond repair. As chairperson for the disabled advocacy group, her duties include collection of donations from shopping malls, corporates and individuals, and donation distribution into communities, some of which are remote and difficult to access.

Sithole says, “We have over 2 000 members in KZN, and most of them are poverty-stricken and located all over the province.”

What impact does a wheelchair have on disabled person’s life?

Sithole has recently had her independence restored with an electric wheelchair, which has improved her life beyond measure.

She says, “It’s been life-changing, I regained my self-confidence, and I can do things on my own. I’ve had my wheelchair for a month, and I am over the moon as it’s just perfect. It fits into my small car, and I can move easily as it is smaller and compact. My other one was seven years old; I couldn’t move in it independently.”

The chairperson of the organisation is extremely grateful for the process which resulted in her new wheelchair.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the QuadPara Association of South Africa for buying me an electric wheelchair which makes it easy for me to move around. I’d like to thank the board members at QUAK, manager, Dean Shand and Angela Cochrane, our fundraiser and volunteer. Our work is just a drop in the ocean, but we attempt to make a difference. However, the organisation can’t achieve anything without welcome input from our donors,” Sithole says.

How can you help?

Collect bottle caps and plastic bread tags – QUAK and the QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA) sell these items to plastic recyclers, with the funds going to the to QASA who have the responsibility of supplying wheelchairs to members on the national waiting list.

Support Casual Day – buy stickers from the Pinetown office of QUAK. The Casual Day event is on September 2.

Donate second hand items – The QuadPara Association of KZN accepts food, clothing, wheelchairs or pressure mattress donations, which will be passed onto their members. Financial donations are welcome.

For more information: 031 701 7444, or visit 19 Second Ave, Ashley, Pinetown.