Four dedicated walkers have begun a walk approximately 2 000km long from Richards Bay to Stellenbosch.
The walk they have embarked on is the third of its kind; known as the Mercy Marathon.
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The sole purpose of the marathon is to raise awareness of the South African Red Cross Air Mercy Service (AMS) and raise much needed funds for the organisation to operate. AMS is a non-profit organisation that offers aero-medical rescue services, which consists of an air ambulance health outreach and emergency rescue to remote rural and metropolitan areas.
60-year-old Melcolm Johnson is one of the founder members and is joined by three other active walkers, Franklin Peceur, Mark Koopman and Rudolph Williams. Together they are taking on this worthy cause in 36 days; walking through nearly 40 towns.
Estcourt was included as one of the 40 towns when the walkers stopped by on the chilly morning last Wednesday at the Al-Imdaad Foundation that they have partnered with on many occasions to carry out their humanitarian work.
“AMS has partnered with us to provide blankets to deep rural areas with their air transport as part of our Winter Warmth programme. Some of the areas of need cannot be accessed by vehicle. Our newest partnership is between Al-Imdaad, AMS and AID (international aid), this will see a cataract surgeon based in Turkey come to attend to the backlog the government has,” explained Mr Ebrahim Vahed.
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A commemorative scroll was handed over to Mr Yacoob Vahed from the Al-Imdaad Foundation to sign before the walkers made their way to Ladysmith.
The journey will not be possible without the support of sponsors and individuals. If you would like to make a donation the details are as follows – Account name: SA RED Cross Air Mercy Service Trust. Account number: 1186115785
Bank: Nedbank
Branch code: 198765
Reference: Mercy Marathon
For any queries you can contact Ms Venessa Horn in the Public Relations and the Fundraising Department on 086 116 3729.
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