Zolani Mahola, the lead singer of Freshlyground, is lending her support to the South African Bone Marrow Registry for a cause close to her heart this festive season.
The ‘Give a Little, Save a Life’ campaign, launched on donations based crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy, aims to raise R300 000 to assist for four local children who are in dire need of a life-saving Stem Cell Transplant.
Through their new Patient Assistance Program, the SABMR, will support ; a 10-year-old girl with leukaemia from Eastern Cape; an eight-year-old boy with a hereditary form of anaemia, currently being treated at a state hospital in the Western Cape; a brother and sister with a hereditary form of anaemia, referred by a state hospital in Limpopo.
To date, the SABMR has helped save the lives of nearly 500 patients with life-threatening blood disorders by matching them with healthy, unrelated bone marrow donors from South Africa and the rest of the world. For such patients, a stem cell transplant is their only chance of a healthy, normal life. But many struggle to cover the donor-related costs of this the procedure, which replaces cancer cells and makes new blood cells.
The SABMR is constantly looking to increase its database, both in numbers as well as ethnic diversity. Zolani, a humanitarian at heart, became a bone marrow donor two years ago.
“When a close friend of mine passed away from leukemiaa few years ago, I realized just how important it is to become a donor and that I could potentially save someone’s life with this small sacrifice.” – says Mahola
“As a nation, we have a rich history of Ubuntu and we must continually find new ways of expressing it. With many of our donors coming from overseas, we need more donors of African descent. With the procedure itself not being the onerous and painful task it used to be, we have so much potential to make a difference at home” – adds Mahola
Zolani hopes the people of South Africa will be generous in supporting the SABMR’s crowdfunding campaign.
“I believe we are all connected and where we feel called to help we should. These children could be our sons and daughters our little nieces and nephews. We have a chance to extend their lives so they too can have the opportunity to one day help others. I’m thrilled at the notion that even a little bit out of our pockets can go towards ensuring these beautiful children have a future. Please do what you can, thank you and bless you!” – says Mahola
“The ‘Give a Little, Save a Life’ campaign went live on 21 November 2018 and has thus far raised R47 798.05 with contributions from 94 donors. All funds raised will be managed by the SABMR. Donors will also be eligible for a Section 18A tax certificate issued by the organisation.” – says BackaBuddy, Public Relations Officer, Zane Groenewald
To make a donation on BackaBuddy, click here.
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