Young fundraiser’s drive warms hearts

A young girl has taken it upon herself to raise funds for Toti’s Faron-Mae Fisher who suffers from a rare genetic disease.

Little Elodi Smith (8), who is friends with Faron-Mae’s older sister Zaiya has demonstrated what the true human spirit of giving is all about.

The Amanzimtoti Primary School pupil initiated her fundraising in September, where she saves her pocket money to donate to Faron-Mae’s Trust.

Five-year-old Faron-Mae was diagnosed with glycogen storage type 0 in June 2012 at 18 months of age. She has also been diagnosed with kyphscoliosis where her spine has a 68 degree curvature, which if left unremedied, can be life-threatening.

She attends sensory therapy, alternate augmentative communication therapy and physiotherapy weekly, which has been beneficial to her growth and development. To help with the escalating costs, her parents set up a trust fund for the public to assist financially.

“Elodi’s heart has been captured by Faron-Mae’s cause and on a regular basis she offers me her pocket money, out of her own free will, for my daughter’s trust and fundraisers,” said Faron-Mae’s mother, Paula.

“I cannot take the money from her whenever she hands it to me in a little brown envelope with Faron-Mae’s name on it and I am often in tears, because she has such a beautiful heart. I tell her I cannot take her money, but after many arguments, her mother insists Elodi wants to give it Faron-Mae and I must accept it from her.”

At the end of last year Elodi’s family visited from Germany and before they flew back, she insisted they hand over all their left-over rands. “She said they wouldn’t need it back home and she gave me this money in December to go towards Faron-Mae’s trust and fundraising.”

When Faron-Mae’s updated story was featured in last week’s Sun, Elodi again took it upon herself to raise money for the little five-year-old. For her latest fundraising scheme, she has written out the words ‘You are only allowed to come in if you pay for Faron-Mae’ on a sheet of paper and stuck it on her bedroom door with a margarine box underneath for visitors to place their ‘admission’ fees in.

Read the story here: Fishers fundraise for Faron-Mae’s health fight

The Toti public can help raise funds for Faron-Mae by attending or sponsoring prizes for a fundraiser at Splash Waterworld on Friday, 18 March. Tickets cost R40 per person for unlimited rides from 6pm to 9pm. For more information on this fundraiser, call Paula on 082-304-8195 or Dean on 083-278-8040.

Trust details:

• The Faron-Mae Fisher Trust,
• IT number: 933/2012 (Durban),
• First National Bank,
• business account,
• account number: 62382573783,
• branch code: 25065.