Choc Cows celebrate 10 years of supporting childhood cancer

SAXONWOLD – The Choc Cow committee celebrate 10 years of doing it for children with cancer.

December 6, 2017

Tshepiso Mametela 2 minutes read

Choc Cows, Gordon Reid, Gray Braatvedt, Alex Waldauer and Taryn Seegers at the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge.

The CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa‘s fundraising committee, The Cows, took to celebrating a splendid year by bestowing recognition awards on a number of individuals who form part of its herd.

This, after a year that saw 100s of Cows take part in a number of flagship sporting events including the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge, the Comrades Marathon and Ironman. The day’s events, which coincided with the 10th year anniversary of The Cow movement on 2 December in Saxonwold, included a handover of a R185 000 cheque from Makro.

Some of the Choc Cows fundraising committee members in their outrageous outfits.
Photo: Tshepiso Mametela

Choc Cows celebrate their 2017 successes at one of their homes in Saxonwold.
Photo: Tshepiso Mametela

Formed by Grant and Kerrin Bain in 2008, the Cow costume ensemble was a special tribute to their 20-month-old daughter, Jessica Bain, who passed away from cancer. Since then, The Cows has raised more than R30 million in aid of families of children diagnosed with cancer.

Carl Queiros, chief executive officer of the foundation said, “From joining the 947 Cycle Challenge, The Cow movement has grown to the point where we’ve had Cows join us from around the country. In addition to cycle races, there’s swimming, running and canoeing [events that the Cows participate in].

“However, a big thing for us this year was our selection by the Comrades Marathon to be one of their chosen charities – which was particularly special for us.

“For us to come from nowhere is incredible. But it also just shows the power of The Cow; it’s visually very strong and is something that people connect with. All of us have had our own experiences with cancer, from having a child with the disease or losing a relative to cancer.”

Member of The Cow committee, Roberto Riccardi, said The Cow movement is a product of many years of commitment and dedication. He added that it was important for people to come together in aid of others.

Riccardi said, “It’s a culmination of many years of friendship and some suffering, but it’s been great because we’ve brought together a whole bunch of people to try and raise money to help children going through tough times.

“To actually do 10 years of this has been absolutely incredible. We’ve been very lucky to get just over the R30 million mark by raising awareness around the disease. However, if we manage to find these kids early, we can save lives. And at the same time, one man, one girl, one person can make a difference.”