Vietnam invasion to aid local charity
WHAT initially started off as a humorous challenge, has turned into a mission of raising funds for LifeLine Zululand.
Richards Bay’s Diana Serfontein and two colleagues will take on the Techcombank Ironman 70.30 race in Vietnam to raise funds for charity.
The Zululand Business Women’s Association (BWA) committee member challenged her work colleagues Maritsa and Lize Strauss to join her on the ultra fitness marathon event on 10 May, with two other supporters, Gerdine van Deventer and Jacolette Adam, assisting with the fund-raising efforts.
Originally from Mpumalanga, Diana moved to Richards Bay with her two children in 2018 and took up a post at Serfontein & Richards Attorneys.
‘I was surprised by the heart of this community and how they welcomed my family and made us a part of this community.
‘I quickly got involved with different organisations, running and cycling groups and the Multi Sport Club, where I have made such wonderful friends who we see more as family.
‘This year BWA we will be supporting LifeLine Zululand and as we have already pledged to go to Vietnam for the race, we would do it for charity as well.
‘LifeLine Director Michelle Jewlal identified transport as one of the organisation’s major challenges. Old vehicles which need constant attention and an insufficient number of vehicles to transport staff to communities remain a serious problem .
‘We decided to raise funds for new vehicles, as well as providing assistance of an administrator.
‘Our team will also participate in various local events such as the Hippo Marathon, Leomat 1 000m swim, Tinman Challenge and Pongola Sugar Cane Marathon before competing in Vietnam.
‘The Ironman 70.3 is a testing 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run race and takes place in Da Nang on 10 May.
Support
The public can support in three ways - donating funds towards the cause, pledging an amount for every kilometre the participants train, and by contacting Diana or LifeLine Zululand with fund-raising proposals.
‘Our support will not end on 10 May. We have adopted LifeLine for the whole year and assist them where we can.
‘We have a 12-week programme and our training will be loaded onto the Strava app and also Facebook as we go along so people can track us.
‘The public can follow our Facebook page ‘Get LifeLine to the people’ and we will be posting all the updates and information,’ she said.
For more information call 083 3219567.