About an hour ago, BackaBuddy announced that it has collectively raised over R 50 million towards causes in South Africa and South Africans have been the driving force behind it!
Good Things Guy was notified at 11:00 am this morning (the 16th of November 2017) that the BackaBuddy website has officially raised over R 50 million towards South African based causes.
The website is a South African based fundraising service that caters to every kind of cause you could think of. Since the website went live in SA, we have shared countless stories about everyday South Africans who have raised money to support various causes. Some of the stories have been downright inspirational!
“We believe in the power of individual philanthropy and peer-to-peer giving through technology. Anyone can create a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy and start collecting donations in support of their favourite cause.”
As they celebrate raising R50 million for various charities and causes, BackaBuddy found themselves looking back at a few of the campaigns that have captured their imaginations and tugged their heart strings. They shared their favourite ones with us and these are just 3 of those.
Darryn August
Darryn August was thrown out of a moving train after trying to protect two ladies from a robbery on his way to work in May 2016. His friend, Graeme Kuys, set up a fund to raise R 30,000.00 towards medical costs. He set out to cycle 8,848 km, the length of Mount Everest, in the hope to raise money towards Darryn’s unforeseen medical expenses.
To Graeme’s surprise, his gesture generated more than half a million rand towards his friend’s recovery.
Russell Martin
On the 30th of April 2017, UCT alumni, Russell Martin sadly passed away, leaving behind his wife IIze, his two young boys, Oliver and Conner and his friends and family with a lot of questions and a tremendous feeling of loss.
Related Story
To console the Martin family and to honour Russell’s memory, his 2007 MBA classmates from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business set up a BackaBuddy campaign. The campaign was aimed at securing enough funds to send Russell’s two sons to university when they are old enough to realize their educational dreams. With tremendous support R167,307.90 was generated in Russell’s honour, that will allow the two boys to follow their dreams
Cody the Pony, a Knysna fire survivor.
During the disastrous Knysna Fires on the 7th of June 2017, BackaBuddy were inundated with campaigns, the devastation destroyed homes, businesses and separated families.
One pony, by the name of Cody, suffered severe burns all over his body and fled his home to escape the blaze. He returned home after 3 weeks without food or water and found himself in desperate need of rehabilitation.
Owner Karen Lambrechts set up a campaign to cover Cody’s medical costs, estimated at R40 000. Donors responded to Cody’s story with open hearts and his campaign raised a total of R 129,648.82!
In total, the Knysna Fire campaign raised just over R 2 million in funds.
These are just three stories from hundreds. The website has helped create real change in the lives of South Africans.
“Crowdfunding has the unique ability to unite individuals in the face of fear and adversity. It has the potential to bring about meaningful social change and it creates an opportunity for individuals to support their passions and to spread kindness that is often lacking in our fast-paced world.” – Zane Groenewald, Marketing Officer, BackaBuddy
You can find out more about fundraising for your cause on the BackaBuddy website here.
by 