Nazareth House, a reputable non-profit organisation that provides sanctuary and care to 35 children and 130 elderly people has today received much-needed relief in the form of essential donations from Right to Care, a highly-respected, leading Covid-19 orientated NGO, in partnership with needs-matched life insurer, BrightRock, and sports event organiser and NPO, Events to Aid. The donations form part of the BrightRock Battle of the Sports challenge, an ongoing, collective initiative aimed at raising vital funds and awareness to support vulnerable communities in South Africa that have been adversely affected by Covid-19. The challenge saw sporting heroes from the rugby, cricket, running, and soccer codes take part in a gruelling race against time across the Northern Cape’s Verneukpan in September.
As an NPO that relies entirely on donations, Nazareth House in Yeoville is one such vulnerable community. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Nazareth’s funding has been heavily affected, as many of their funders and donors have been under severe financial strain and therefore unable to donate to the organisations’ cause. In addition, the orphanage has also been negatively affected by Covid-19 owing to the strict regulations around visitors to the centre, which in turn resulted in further public donations being cut.
Right to Care’s Precious Robinson, chief technical specialist: Prevention, Care and Treatment, says, “The residents at Nazareth House are frail and destitute often with no family or resources. With Covid-19, their support was compromised. We are committed to supporting vulnerable populations, including the elderly and orphans. We wanted to contribute to improving the quality of their lives, and provide for their basic needs to save them from coronavirus infections. We asked the home about their requirements and have supported according to their requests including PPE, toiletries and towels.”
The donation by both Right to Care and BrightRock consisted of essential care items, including adult nappies, toiletries, medical gloves, bath towels, nail clippers, Rehydrate and Covid-19 PPE, as well as certain basic foodstuffs, all of which will go a long way in ensuring all residents at the orphanage are as comfortable and protected as possible during an extremely uncertain time.
Suzanne Stevens, Deputy CEO says “At BrightRock, our philosophy is to love change. When we deliver to our clients, our purpose is to help them navigate the changes in their lives by providing them with financial protection that meets their needs, now and in the future. Beyond helping people adapt to change in their lives and embrace the opportunities that change can bring, we also hope to inspire positive change. At this time of uncertainty and great need, we believe it’s vital to give back to communities and that’s why we became involved with the BrightRock Battle of the Sports. We hope that, through contributing to the important work being done at Nazareth House and other community projects, we can be a part of the change that’s needed to help rebuild our communities after this very challenging year.”
The initiative also saw four of BrightRock’s biggest celebrity friends including Jason Goliath, Siv Ngesi, Dan Nicholl and Francois van Coke – lend a helping hand to raise awareness around this extremely important cause. Each of these celebrities captained their own four-member BrightRock Battle of the Sports teams, taking part in various #battleofthesports challenges to raise funds and awareness for the campaign.
“It has been a massive privilege to round up my fittest friends to take part in the BrightRock Battle of the Sports initiative. We really enjoyed raising funds for PPE for healthcare workers on the frontline, as well as other vulnerable communities like Nazareth House. Good vibes all around!”, Francois van Coke.
