Chad Nathan, a filmmaker and photographer, has been documenting the lockdown in Cape Town and is now using his work to highlight the need and raise funds.
Cape Town, South Africa (20 January 2021) – Chad Nathan has been documenting the impact of the Coronavirus lockdown in South Africa. He started using his works to raise awareness and funding for four South African organisations working to combat the negative impact the lockdown has had on poor communities.
Chad identified Cans With Purpose, Ladles of Love, Breadline Africa and Courage as the recipients for a crowdfund. The original goal was to raise R100,000.00, but it has been such a success that the crowdfund has reached over R600,000.00 and a new goal has been set to R700,000.00. Chad called the BackaBuddy crowdfund, “Raising Hope“.
In working closely with non-profit organisations in Cape Town, namely Cans With Purpose, Ladles of Love, Breadline Africa, and Courage, Chad felt it was his responsibility to ‘take action’ and use his platform to carry out random acts of kindness.
“With no cars on the road, it pained me to see people digging in trash cans looking for food. I could see how the homeless were going to suffer and I knew I had to do something about it” says Chad.
After reaching out to his Instagram followers, he soon exceeded his fundraising target, raising over R 620 000 with generous contributions from 1253 donors both locally and internationally.
The Impact of Raising Hope
With the success of his campaign, Chad has been able to support over 35 non-profit organisations and communities across the country in dire need.
With funds raised:
- Over R100 000 was donated to support over 850 refugees in Kensington with food, tents, clean clothes, toiletries and other essential items.
- Over R80 000 was donated to Ladles of Love Soup Kitchen.
- Over R80 000 was donated to Courage, a COVID-19 community response initiative.
- Over R70 000 was donated to Afrika Tikkun’s Cans With Purpose project to feed families in need.
- Over R50 000 was donated to Breadline Africa who build classrooms, toilet facilities, and kitchens in ECD centers as well as primary school libraries across South Africa.
- Over R15 000 was donated to The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children as well as Uyinene Mrwetyana Fund to help victims of Gender Based Violence.
- Over R15 000 was donated to Tears Animal Rescue, Woodrock Animal Rescue and Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary to support animals in need.
- R10 000 was donated to One Bag Full to help communities in Langa.
- R8 000 was donated to Living Hope to support the thousands of individuals displaced by the Masiphumelele fires.
As the number of coronavirus infections rise in South Africa, Chad is hoping to raise a further R400 000 with his campaign to support feeding schemes in Langa, Mannenberg, Hanover Park, Delft, and many more.
“I am so thankful for each and every person who has donated to my campaign and I hope we will get the chance to change the lives of many more people. Every day thousands of South Africans are losing their lives, jobs and their livelihoods to this virus. Together we can ease the suffering and come out stronger” – Chad Nathan
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