Casual Day vendors receive awards for 2019

Participants in the 2019 country-wide campaign of the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities known as Casual Day lined up at Bolivia Estate on Friday to receive their awards from the proceeds of last year’s efforts.
From the city, the Association for Persons with Disability (APD) and Polokwane Nasorgsentrum vir Intellektueel Gestremde Volwassenes were two of the many institutions that made substantial contributions towards the sale of Casual Day memorabilia and they were recognised accordingly with a percentage of the amounts collected.
Launched in 1995, Casual Day is an awareness and fundraising campaign benefiting persons with disabilities. Each year on the first Friday of September, South Africans are encouraged to go to work or school dressed differently – either dress up or dress down – and to wear the official Casual Day sticker to show their support for persons with disabilities.
The campaign encourages the public to contribute financially through a small donation of R10 for a sticker, and at the same time lobbies for the full inclusion and equity of persons with disabilities. So, not only does it raise funds, but it also raises awareness of the challenges and potential of the community in a fun way.
According to the organisers of Casual Day, each year, approximately 4 500 companies, 100 schools and 400 NGO organisations take part in Casual Day. Over the past 24 years since Casual Day was launched, the project has raised in excess of R276 million (2016 totals) which is distributed among the project’s national beneficiaries representing persons with disabilities as a part of a diverse society.
This is achieved thanks to the generous support of the South African public, corporates, government organisations, schools and the hard work of our NGO organisations in getting the message and sticker sales to the public.
Casual Day is run in partnership with the South African National Council for the Blind, South African Federation for Mental Health, Deaf Federation of South Africa, Autism South Africa, Down-Syndrome South Africa, National Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy, South African National Deaf Association, National Institute for the Deaf, Alzheimer’s South Africa, QuadPara Association of South Africa, South African Disability Alliance, The National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities, Cheshire Home SA, Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of South Africa ( MDFSA), Transoranje Institute for Special Education, Grey Power and the South African Association for Specialised Education.
This year Casual Day will be observed on 4 September and local fund raisers will soon commence with initiatives to promote this year’s campaign.

Story and photos: BARRY VILJOEN
>>barryv.observer@gmail.com