The top performers in the Casual Day campaign for 2015 were announced at the project’s annual awards breakfast held The Boardwalk in Summerstrand today. The function honoured the fundraisers and who assist in raising donations for the disability sector.
The organisation that raised the most donations for Casual Day in the province is the Association for Persons with Disabilities Nelson Mandela Bay (APD NMB), raising donations of R114 731. The funds raised will be used to purchase much-needed assistive devices for children and adults with disabilities. Funds will also go towards a range of children’s care centres and projects in disadvantaged communities.
The runners up are Uitenhage Mental Health with R52 104, Autism Eastern Cape with R49 510, Port Elizabeth Mental Health with R33 420, Rehab Southernwood with R28 470, McClelland Adult Centre with R28 300, APD Mthatha with R20 880, Khanyisa Special School with R19 595, Cheshire Home Summerstrand with R18 810 and APD King William’s Town with R15 456
All the participants were also honoured for their contribution to the project, which is now in its 22nd year. The generous public added R27 million nationally to the donations raised by Casual Day over the past two decades, bringing the national total for 21 years to R249 million.
Sponsored by the Edcon Group and supported by a number of corporates, Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in SA (NCPPDSA). Says project leader Vanessa du Plessis: ‘We would like to thank all Western Cape employers who permit their employees to take part in Casual Day. A large portion of what we raise comes from employees in South Africa’s companies and big corporates. It is very interesting to note that employees who participate in projects like Casual Day are more positive, motivated and productive at work. Doing good as a team gives employees a feeling of pride and meaning.
‘Doing good together leads to more satisfied employees and ones that are more likely to exceed their performance expectations than those who are not involved. The bottom line is – doing good is good for the bottom line.’
She thanked Brian Bezuidenhout, director of APD NMB for assisting in the production of the official Casual Day T shirts. “We are very happy to be able to announce that a large proportion of the Casual Day shirts will again be produced by the Ability Wear Job Creation Centre. Last year 15 000 shirts were manufactured here and this year we are aiming for half of the entire consignment to be produced at the centre.
“It is very gratifying for Casual Day to be able to provide job opportunities to persons with disabilities and we are proud to say that the quality of the work is as good as any commercially produced shirts.”
Ray Adriaanse, of the CSI and enterprise development department at the Edcon Group, said the company has committed over R12 million to Casual Day since becoming a principal sponsor in 2013, with over R4,3 million of the funds raised as sticker donations at Edcon stores.
The group continues to support the agenda of the South African community of persons with disabilities with the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in SA and its affiliates across the country. Edcon’s relationship with the NCPPDSA extends beyond the Casual Day sponsorship to the recruitment and placement of persons with disabilities in jobs within the Edcon Group, she said.
The donations will be distributed to the following beneficiaries: the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in SA, South African National Council for the Blind, SA Federation for Mental Health, Deaf Federation of South Africa, Autism South Africa, Down Syndrome South Africa, the National Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy, the South African National Deaf Association, the National Institute for the Deaf, QuadPara Association of South Africa, Alzheimer’s South Africa and the South African Disability Alliance.
Alan Straton
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