Casual Day raises R22 million for persons with disabilities

PRETORIA. 13 MARCH 2013. Casual Day, South Africa’s most-loved fundraising project for persons with disabilities, raised a record amount of R22 million during last year’s campaign, a ten percent improvement on the previous year’s tally. This was announced at a recent roadshow function in Pretoria celebrating Casual Day’s top performers.

Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities (NCPPDSA), an NPO mandated to improve education, inclusivity, accessibility and social integration for persons with disabilities.
Alma School in Pretoria, a school that provides special education for children with disabilities between the ages of three and 21, was the top performer in Gauteng during last year’s Casual Day campaign – raising donations for 27 482 stickers.
“The learners, parents, teachers and friends of Alma School worked extremely hard throughout 2012 to become the top achiever in Gauteng. Not only do they have the immediate benefit of the money they raise, but their donations also help other organisations for person with disabilities all over the country,” says Casual Day project leader Celeste Vinassa.

Casual Day is the lifeblood of its national beneficiaries that include Epilepsy SA, SA Federation for Mental Health, Deaf Federation SA, SA National Council for the Blind and Disabled People SA, each of which also participate in raising funds from sticker donations, and sales of caps and shirts.

After a warm welcome from Dr BT Naidoo, immediate past chairman of the NCPPDSA, he handed over to Mr Mac Mia, treasurer of NCPPDSA, who thanked outgoing Casual Day sponsor Absa. At the same time he announced that leading SA clothing, footwear and textiles retailing group, Edcon, has come on board as the main financial sponsor of Casual Day.

After his opening address Mia explained that Casual Day was undergoing some exciting changes that fans of Casual Day should take note of, saying, “You may be aware that the contract between NCPPDSA (National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa) as the owner of the Casual Day Project, and The Marketing Team (which was contracted to run the operational side of the project for many years), has been terminated. The Marketing Team launched a parallel fund-raising project, in competition with Casual Day™ and considered to be a conflict of interest.”

Casual Day ambassador and TV celebrity Philicity Reeken said, “As you all know, the theme last year was ‘Get on Board’ and I believe this province did just that. On 7th September last year, there were sailors, pirates, mermaids, captains, sea creatures of all description that supported Casual Day by not only wearing strange outfits, but by also wearing the official Casual Day sticker.”

Other top performers
The Sunshine Centre Association for children with intellectual disabilities in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, received a special mention for raising donations for more than 20 000 stickers.
Con Amore, for children with intellectual disabilities in Kempton Park, and the Gateway Society in Roodepoort were also praised for their outstanding performance in raising donations of over 20 000 stickers. Meerhof School was lauded as the top performer in North West Province, raising donations for over 30 000 stickers.

Another top performer that received an award for ongoing support went to The Curamus Association, established to serve and support South African Defence Force members (SADF and SANDF) who were wounded and disabled in the execution of their duties. Last year the men and women in uniform spent the day in Casual Day civvies in aid of military veterans.

Casual Day™ is a highlight on the calendar of the employees of many South African companies. The South African Revenue Service branches all over South Africa have been a loyal a partner to Casual Day™ for a long time and go from strength to strength. The head office, Lehae La SARS, in Pretoria brought in the most donations of the SARS offices. Fiona Brits, Marisa McKenzie, Matys Oelofse, Susan Pienaar and Yvonne Lengton were the top performing team. They were praised for their team contribution.

Lehae La SARS was among the hundreds of energetic and dedicated organisations, companies and government departments in SA that have raised over R170 million over the past 18 years for Casual Day beneficiaries.
An individual who excelled was Nishen Naicker, who was nominated by his team mates the SA National Council for the Blind for raising the most sticker donations.

Edcon Group CSI Manager Mercia Maserumule confirmed that by sponsoring Casual Day™, Edcon will continue to act as a caring corporate citizen in an effort to make a meaningful difference to the disability community.
Edcon’s involvement comes by way of the company’s mission to share wealth for positive change in the quality of life of people in areas which it trades. Edcon believes it has a responsibility towards the development and upliftment of its communities, while pursuing its business objectives, she said.

The Casual Day™ theme for 2013 was announced amidst much laughter. Project Leader Celeste Vinassa said, “This year we Go Big so whether you wear big hair, a big tie, big shoes, or just go big on the number of stickers you wear, anything goes, as long as it’s big.” She then introduced the highlight of the event, the guest speaker.

Keynote speaker Sheri Brynard, who was chosen as Shoprite Checkers Woman of the Year 2012 in the Young Movers category – the first person with a disability to win and the first ever learner with Down Syndrome to be awarded a national tertiary qualification in South Africa – took the podium as guest speaker. She spoke movingly about rising above one’s disabilities, saying that everyone has the opportunity to touch people’s lives and make a difference in the world.
Casual Day 2013 takes place as usual on the first Friday of September, being Friday 6 September, in continued partnership six main beneficiaries and 300 participating organisations dedicated to advancing the rights of and rendering services for persons with disabilities.

Contact numbers for the Casual Day office in Edenvale.
Tel: 011 452 2774 Fax: 011 452 6583
www.casualday.co.za
ENDS
For more information, photographs and publicity material call
Andrea Vinassa / Media co-ordinator for Casual Day
079 089 9835

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Author: Andrea Vinassa from Casual Day. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.

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