A rally for good
SANDTON – The Foot Soldiers team will take part in the Put Foot Rally which spans six countries.
A quest for adventure has turned into a passionate fundraising opportunity for a group of friends from the Sandton area.
A spontaneous idea by James Gresty to take part in the Put Foot Rally, which travels throughout Africa, has now become an opportunity for five people to raise money for causes they are passionate about.
The Put Foot Rally, which has taken place over the past 10 years, sees adventurous crews travelling across six countries. The rally aims to encourage both locals and foreigners to travel more throughout Africa and experience all it has to offer while also raising money for charity. This year the Put Foot Foundation will be raising money to donate school shoes to children in Zambia. The rally will begin on 16 June and finish on 4 July.
Gresty brought up the idea with his friend Gert van Zyl who was immediately intrigued and recruited Paul Reid Robertson, Haydee Bothma and Paul Warner to join their team. The team, called the Foot Soldiers, will be travelling over 8 000km in two vehicles.
The Foot Soldiers have funded their own trip and each person who takes part raises $55 (about R780) for the Put Foot Foundation. After those funds are raised, the team hopes to raise an additional R150 000 for the Lower South SPCA. “We’re all animal lovers, that that was our one common goal when it came to a charity and we knew that they aren’t that well supported,” said Gresty.
Van Zyl said, “Your faith in humanity gets restored when you come across people who are willing to donate to this cause.” He added that so far they have been overwhelmed with the support so far and the team has raised nearly R40 000 with just over two months to go.
Gresty said that he hasn’t done an extended road trip like this before and is relying on guidance from Van Zyl who does have experience with road trips. However, both Gretsy and Van Zyl added that they have prepared as much as they can and now just look forward to the adventure.
“We just want to make the most of it and enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Van Zyl.
If you would like to contribute to their charity visit the Foot Soldiers Team Facebook page.
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