The Reach for A Dream Foundation will once again host their annual Slipper Day Fundraising Initiative on 5 August 2016. The Reach For A Dream Foundation is a Non-Profit Organisation and is Empowerdex certified, with a 90.14 percent black beneficiary base, and a 100 percent BBBEE SED rating. The vision of the Foundation encompasses dream fulfillment for children between ages 3 to18 who have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and leukemia, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, kidney failure and blood disorders. Their mission is to inspire hope in the lives of dreamers as they face the challenge of daily treatment and slight limitations to the delight of their childhood pleasures due to each of their conditions.
The foundation is dependent on donor funding and public support to ensure the success of its initiatives, one such initiative being its annual slipper day fundraiser campaign. The campaign encourages people to buy slipper day stickers for just R10 and to wear their slippers to work/school for one day to show their support for children with life threatening illnesses.
CEO of Reach for a Dream, Julia Sotirianakos, said that by fulfilling children’s dreams, they enable them to experience a magical time in their life which they do not get to experience due to their illness. “The positive effect of the ‘dream come true’ often helps children respond better to their medication,” explained Sotirianakos. In 2015, they successfully raised R3,497 500 which will enable them to reach more than 11 000 children this year. “We are aiming to raise double this amount in 2016 so that we can reach so many more children and inspire hope in both their lives and that of their families,” said Sotirianakos.
Stickers can be bought from any Pick n Pay and Wimpy for R10 from July 1, and can be worn on the August 5, to a Wimpy near you to get your free Wimpy coffee.
About The Reach for A Dream Foundation
For 27 years, the Reach For A Dream Foundation (RFAD), has brought hope, joy and healing to South African children and their families by offering the child a magical moment to regain their childhood that is being lost to an illness. The foundation discovered an interesting fact about life-threatening illnesses: a larger percentage of children survive than adults do. They believe that one reason is that children simply have not learnt what life-threatening means; they live each day as it is given to them. For children attitude is everything, and they need all the encouragement they can get. Whatever the dream, no matter how big or small, it often gives the child hope and courage to carry on the fight.