Golf day a hit with charities
SPAR Eastern Cape were again able to make a substantial contribution to charity at their 22nd annual golf day at Humewood in Port Elizabeth on Thursday. Adopting a music theme from the Beatles, the SPAR Eastern Cape Charity “Fab Fore” Golf Day saw a total of 200 golfers tackle a breezy links course to support a good cause. Three beneficiaries – Elsen Academy, Sweethearts Foundation and Zwartkops Conservancy – benefited by the handsome amount of R35,000 each. “It was a great success, with 50 four-balls dressed in a variety of coloured shirts to suit the Beatles theme,” SPAR EC sponsorship and events manager Alan Stapleton said. “It was a good opportunity for suppliers, retailers and the staff of the Distribution Centre to interact and, for many, to experience the mysteries of Humewood’s links course.” Stapleton said the Golf Day also enabled SPAR to continue their philosophy of giving back to the community. Founded by Philippa Fabbri in 2006, Elsen Academy is an independent school-based non-profit organisation in the suburb of Central. It caters for children who, for varying reasons, struggle in the larger school environments. “It is a fantastic for us to be involved with a golf day such as this and we are extremely grateful for the contribution from SPAR,” Fabbrisaid. “We are busy creating a Makerspace at our school to teach the pupils a number of practical skills and a donation such as this allows us to purchase the equipment to make this initiative a success.” The Sweethearts Foundation was founded five years ago and has a two-fold objective – to assist those in need by generating funds for wheelchairs and to look after the environment. National marketing director Ashley Nel, who lives in Port Elizabeth, said their big focus was on the tops and tags collection, which had helped them donate a total of 252 wheelchairs since their inception. Under the chairmanship of PE resident Frank Collier, the Zwartkops Conservancy helps to maintain the environment in the Zwartkops River Valley. “As a 50-year-old watchdog against pollution, we employ litter pickers who pick up hundreds of bags of litter in the river and along its banks every week,” he said. “We also have a massive conservation education programme which has been running for many years. It’s expanding and we are now talking to more than 40 schools in Motherwell about pollution education. “And thirdly, we are negotiating with the metro to take over the maintenance and management of the Zwartkops River Valley on their behalf.”
‘It was a great success, with 50 four-balls dressed in a variety of coloured shirts to suit the Beatles theme’