SAS Africa donates to Wits med students
MELROSE – SAS Africa donated R25 000 to three Wits medical students who are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Smile Foundation.
A very special meet and greet lunch was hosted where data and analytics service provider SAS Africa gave a generous donation to three Wits medical students who will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for the Smile Foundation.
The meet and greet was hosted at the Grill House in Melrose Arch. Wits medical students Hugh Naidu, Lori-Lee Hemertz and Travis Hall are part of a group of 18 students climbing in December to raise money for the Smile Foundation with each member given the challenge to collect R10 000. Naidu said the three of them decided to partner up and raise money together.
The Smile Foundation is an NGO that gives health care and support to children living with a facial condition such as cleft palates with reconstructive surgery and treatment.
Naidu said that the climb is part of an ongoing initiative set up by the Wits Students’ Surgical Society where Wits medical students climb Kilimanjaro every two years to raise money for the foundation.
The meeting saw the donation of R25 000 to the three students for their climb. Marketing Content and Communications lead at SAS Africa, Vijayne Govender said, “We are very passionate about getting about to the community… We have a number of initiatives and I got wind of the student’s project and it appealed to me. We really admired them and wanted to get involved.”
She added that it’s also important to support youth-based initiatives such as the Wits Students project. She said, “It’s so important to give the youth the support to improve the lives of others, and it’s something that we are very passionate about.”
Hall added, “I definitely think that youth engagement is important and that there are companies like SAS Africa to help us and engage with the youth. Throughout this process, we found out how hard it is to raise funds and it’s great to see companies who will put their money where their mouths are and assist in important projects.”
The students will be taking part in the climb from 10 to 17 December and are going through training to prepare for the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
To donate to the initiative you can click here
Details: https://www.wits.ac.za
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