City community charity cup runneth over
FROM the community, to the community.
That’s how R60 000 worth of donations handed out to 22 organisations on Friday was described.
On a unique public platform, recipients heard how the events of
‘The Great Woodchip Fire of 2023’ had galvanized a community into such action that the ‘leftover’ donations provided a bountiful harvest for others.
NCT general manager Danny Knoesen recounted the events of 30 September, and how that cloud had a silver lining.
“I didn’t ever want to see assets burning and staff running around as the stockpile flames raged and we were running ragged,” he said.
“I was told to ‘find the deputy mayor’, which I did. Cllr Christo
Botha was busy organising loaders to make barricades to stop the fire from encroaching on homes and businesses.
“That started a relationship with him, the city, local businesses and the good people of Richards Bay,” said Knoesen.
“Our operations manager, Ryno Martyn became our fire chief and as they fought the inferno for 12 days, every firefighter had an angel on their shoulder.
“Meals and drinks appeared every day and night; a massive morale booster.”
The supplies had come from the team at Fuzion Ministries, led by
Pastor Chad Jones, who accepted donations from the community and used those to prepare the food and refreshments.
Some 35 000 items were received. “Donations and money left over after the fire was extinguished amounted to around R30 000, which was matched by NCT, while Harry Giannacopoulos of SPAR added R10k and we were able to give meaningful vouchers to a spectrum of recipients in all parts of the city,” said Cllr Botha.
These included orphanages, school feeding schemes, Sanca, Child & Family Care, and other charities.
“We reiterate: this is not our money, it’s yours. The community simply gave too much!,” said Knoesen.