A group of friends from the Sandton area, who will be embarking on the Put Foot Rally to raise funds for charity, have nearly reached their goal.
The group is made up of James Gresty, Gert van Zyl, Haydee Bothma and Paul Warner, and they will be travelling over 8 000km across Africa as the Foot Soldiers team. Unfortunately, one of their original team members, Paul Reid Robertson, had to drop out of the race because of health concerns.
The Sandton Chronicle first featured the team’s fundraising efforts in Locals ready to ‘put foot’ [Week ending 12 April].
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.
The team hopes to raise R150 000 to donate to the Lower South SPCA, which is an organisation close to their hearts. With just a short time to go before they take on their adventure, the group have managed to raise R133 000.
Van Zyl, who works as an estate agent, said that he has met wonderful people through his job, who have contributed to the fundraising.
Kerry Wood, a conveyancing partner at Schindlers Attorneys, said that they were happy to get involved and support the fundraising initiative.
“We regret that we can’t all get in a bakkie with them, but this was a great way to support them.”
Chris Dykes, a director at Dykes van Heerden, said that they are big animal lovers and do a lot of charity for animal welfare organisations, and felt that the Put Foot Rally is a great way to support the SPCA.
One of the other large donors, Denoon Sampson, the managing director at Denoon Sampson Ndlovu added that the SPCA are under an enormous amount of pressure and he hopes that through the donation, they will have a strengthened authority to deal with animal abuse cases.
Van Zyl said that as the race approaches, they have been both nervous and worried about their trip, but they are now excited to get going. He added that he couldn’t believe how much money they have managed to raise so far.
“There are still good people out there who are willing to give and it makes me so happy to see that there’s so much good,” concluded van Zyl.
If you would like to contribute to their charity, visit the Foot Soldiers Team Facebook page.
Share your thoughts on the fundraising initiative on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page
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