Childhood cancer is a frightening reality that many families across South Africa have to deal with daily. South African families face the most challenging battle they will ever have to encounter – alongside the little warriors fighting on the Frontline. But luckily, these brave children and teenagers, along with their families, never have to stand alone.
Our 3rd Flip Flop Day, we were given an opportunity to show the children our passion & support by reminding them that they are never standing alone! CHOC’s annual event was celebrated on the 18th February 2022, and it was bigger, better and filled with more sole. South Africans are certainly filled with wholesome souls when it comes to our children, showing that we can rally behind them, as CHOC SOLE-diers, and truly be a force to be reckoned with.
We are incredibly excited to announce that we have raised just over TWO MILLION RAND for Flip Flop Day 2022, an amount that seemed like a dream when we went into our third year.
This amount was announced along with our sponsor partners, The CoLab Network, Tekkie Town, PNA and Bongi Archi on Tuesday the 5th of April at our CHOC House in Saxonwold. It was an intimate occasion where we were able to look back at our success and determine how to move forward to change more lives, together!
Hedley Lewis, CEO of CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation has said “Flip Flop Day has been an incredible campaign, a campaign that surpassed all our expectations. The expectations of how many stickers were sold, how many children and schools participated, how many board rooms simultaneously had jackets and flips flops. The how many’s just keep on going but most importantly the amount of awareness around the journey of patients who are undergoing cancer treatment. I would like to thank South Africa for embracing Flippie and myself for my maiden campaign.”
The money raised from Flip Flop Day 2022 will be going towards our CHOC Core Programmes. These programmes include our Emotional Support Programme, Awareness Programme as well as the patient facing support needs. This support includes emotional care, from diagnosis onwards and patient facing support ranging from accommodation, transport, CHOC Carebags, and basic nutritional support. Without our support, many children – particularly from low-income families living far from treatment centers – would not be able to access, or adhere to, the necessary but arduous treatment cycle, which can last over three years. Our money will also be used to advocate on behalf of those whose lives have been affected by childhood cancer through awareness campaigns and lobbying.
We incredibly grateful to every individual who stepped into a store or a CHOC office to purchase a sticker, to the thousands of students at schools who were involved, the Johannesburg Mini City Council who became a voice for Flip Flop Day, the corporates who managed to get their entire teams involved and the members of the media who took this cause into their hearts and helped us spread the word to the general public, thank you for making this day possible!
