An entire digital community came together to help a grieving pet owner who was new to the neighbourhood. This is how social media has evolved for the better.
Angela Alfonso joined the ‘I Love Fourways” group when she moved into the area as she didn’t really know many people in the neighbourhood. Her beautiful cat, Diego, was excited for the change and didn’t even need to travel in his travel cage on the way to their new home.
At some point during the move Diego went missing, there was a terrible thunderstorm in the area and it must have played a big roll as to why the cat couldn’t be found.
Angela posted to the Fourways group asking if anyone had seen her beautiful boy.
Sadly another user, Mandy Randell posted a few minutes later, in a separate post, about a cat that had been knocked over and was in need of assistance.
As the posts were put up so close together, the group figured that the injured cat might be Angela’s Diego.
The cat was in fact Angelas and sadly passed away from his injuries. Naturally Angela was heart broken by the event.
New to the area she was unsure how to get to the site where Diego had been knocked over but community members stepped in to assist.
“Angela let me know if you need help finding the road in the area. I could meet you somewhere to help you.” – Tanita Davis
” Angela there are many vets in surrounding areas. Let us know if we can help or direct you ♡” – Tanita Davis
Tanita Davis, a stranger up until that point, met Angela at the vet to offer a shoulder to cry on and to support her through the traumatic and devastating loss.
Along with Tanita’s support the I Love Fourways Facebook filled Angela’s post with condolences and messages of love, strength and support. The group showed a true sense of community and how easy it is to be good to your neighbour.
“Thank you everyone for the kind messages . Thank you Mandy for taking the time to post when you saw Diego on the side of the road . And to Tanita Davis thank you so much for meeting me at the vet and for your support and assistance. You are a truly special person !” – Angela Alfonso
While the event is very tragic it is so refreshing to see an entire community of strangers step in and support someone who needed it from the neighbourhood.
Nowadays, most neighbours don’t even know each others names but with the help of social media and an incredible community… a neighbourhood has evolved into a digital community that are able to assist in the real world!
I Love Fourways was started in 2014 by local resident Jenna Dawes in the hope she could get residents to engage through social media.
“I wanted Fourways to feel like a neighborhood again” says Jenna, who grew up in Fourways. “I wanted people to start chatting about how they feel about community issues that directly affect us. I wanted people to share their stories, warn fellow residents of news they felt was important and not what the media decided we should know, and refer good service providers in the area.”
“I felt it was the perfect platform for people to sell second hand goods, put their properties up for rent and get some exposure for their businesses.”
The group has given over 26 000 residents a platform to speak out and come together.
“The group has become a movement.” says Jenna
“Residents are getting involved, giving back, supporting each other and local businesses. Residents seek advice on good plumbers, electricians, beauty services and more, and this has allowed us to work towards increasing service levels in our area.”
“The I Love Fourways Group is currently one of South Africas most powerful community driven suburban groups and is growing quickly”
“We have seen members helping each other find pets, offering comfort to someone they have never met, showing kindness to someone who just needed to hear they are not alone. They have stood together on issues like child abuse and animal abuse.”
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