The Red Balloon Foundation has hosted a successful fundraising campaign in honour of little Maxim Harvie, and they will be able to support special needs children.
South Africa (27 October 2021) – The Red Balloon Foundation announced that they have closed their fundraising crowdfund for 2021 and have successfully raised enough to support seven special needs children with specialised neurological rehabilitation.
The foundation has been working to make a difference in South Africa, all in the memory of little Maxim Harvie.
In memory of Maxim Harvie
The Red Balloon Foundation was founded in memory of little Maxim Harvie, who would have turned 8-years-old this year. The foundation honours his memory by providing Neurological rehabilitation to underprivileged children.
Maxim was diagnosed with Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy and Cortical Visual Impairment shortly after his birth. Maxim’s mother, Antoinette Harvie, quickly found ways to make his life as comfortable as possible and went to the USA, where she trained in the Anat Baniel Method of NeuroMovement.
Sadly, Maxim passed away from kidney failure on the 1st of September 2016, just a month before his 3rd birthday. Antoinette poured her grief into honouring Maxim by helping disadvantaged children. She used her NeuroMovement training to help others and launched the foundation in memory of her precious boy, Maxim.
Neurological rehabilitation
Neurological rehabilitation can aid children with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, ADD/ADHD, Stroke, Brain Injury, and Genetic Disorders.
Very often, the disruption due to trauma, illness, genetic or metabolic condition, autism, or undiagnosed developmental disorders derails the brain from its spontaneous process of growing and learning. The Anat Baniel Method of NeuroMovement is a science-based approach that is very gentle, using movements and the 9 Essentials that help your child’s brain to wake up and grow, learn and evolve.
Since the foundation was started in 2017, they have hosted 836 1-on-1 Neurological Rehab sessions, hosted 9 workshops and aided 48 parents and caregivers with coaching.
Fundraising Success
Each year, the team launches a fundraising effort in memory of Maxim to help as many children as possible. This year in celebration of what would have been Maxim’s eighth birthday, they hoped to raise enough to supply a full year of therapy to eight children.
They successfully raised the funds needed for seven children, and they are just R 6,500 short of fully funding the 8th child’s treatment. They are preparing to assess the children in need and select the eight children who will be offered the therapy next year.
“It’s always so heartwarming to let parents know that their child has been selected and to help ease the burden for the year.” – Terry Sundstrom
Future Support
The Red Balloon Foundation was recently accepted into the MySchool Card programme. To support The Red Balloon Foundation and its efforts, join MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet and select them as your beneficiary. Then, simply visit myschool.co.za or download the app. Every time you shop at one of their retail partners, including Woolworths, Engen, Loot.co.za, Bidvest, Waltons, Builders and more, a portion of your spend will be given to the cause of your choice – at no additional cost to you.
The organisation can provide tax certificates to South African donors should they wish to contribute. You can find out more via their website here.
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