Diane Schultz reached out to her community after learning that local ice-cream man William Lebesana’s bicycle had stopped working; the community rallied to support him.
Edgemead, South Africa (07 January 2022) – William Lebesana has been selling ice-creams in Edgemead for a long time. The residents hear his bell and come running to get their favourite ice creams. Recently, William’s bicycle broke, and so he took to doing his rounds on foot.
Diane Schultz noticed he was walking around with a cooler box in the blazing summer heat and asked him what had happened to his bicycle. He explained that it broke and was not able to fix it.
Wanting to help, Diane took to her Edgemead community group on Facebook, asking if anyone had a second-hand bicycle they were willing to donate to William. Before long, the community had started offering to help get their favourite ice-cream man back on some wheels.
Diane spoke on CapeTalk to share how the community got involved in helping William.
“He was carrying a cooler box on one of Cape Town’s very hot summer days and it broke my heart… I thought I’ve got to do something to try and help him.” – Diane Schultz, Community Organiser
Together the Edgemead community raised a substantial amount of money and managed to get Gatti Ice Cream on board. The company sponsored a brand new bicycle for William that was purchased from bike specialists Swift Cycles in Johannesburg.
Diane was present when they handed over the new bicycle. She was able to hand over the money raised as well as a new cellphone and workwear for William. He will have stock for several months, which will mean he gets a bit of a financial break.
He was overwhelmed with joy and thanked the entire community for their contributions to getting him back on the road.
“All I wish is that God can bless all the people that helped me.” – William Lebesana
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