Big Concerts announced CSI Initiative for 2016
Big Concerts was moved to start a Corporate Social Initiatives Department, ‘WE CARE’, thanks to two very special ladies; Martelise Meaker and Lekiescha Padayachee. When they heard their favourite band One Direction were coming to South Africa they contacted Reach For A Dream who approached Big Concerts to see if we could arrange a meet & greet with Harry, Liam, Niall and Louis. At the time Martelise was fighting Osteoogenic Sarcoma and Lekiescha was diagnosed with Congenital Myopathy and was suffering from respiratory failure. The band approved the request without hesitation and gave them an experience they would never forget including a goodie bag filled with official One Direction merchandise.
It was through this experience that Big Concerts realised that they could make a BIG difference.
WE CARE
Through WE CARE, Big Concerts will, in 2016, proudly support The Sunflower Fund and Reach For A Dream Foundation where we hope to make a BIG difference to the lives of other people through live entertainment.
Alana James, CEO of the Sunflower Fund commented “The awareness and funds raised through this collaboration will greatly assist us to deliver on our mission – to increase the South African Bone Marrow Registry with committed donors, giving Hope of life to those in need of a stem cell transplant”.
Over the coming months Big Concerts will be launching various initiatives to do exactly that. The first initiative to launch is the option to donate R10 to these organisations when you purchase a ticket to a Big Concerts event through our website www.bigconcerts.co.za. A small gesture like this is often something BIG for someone else, and we sincerely hope the public will support us as we try to make a difference.
More About The Sunflower Fund
The Sunflower Fund, a National Non-Profit Company (NPC), is an organisation in South Africa dedicated to creating awareness, educating the public and handling the registration process for people to join the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR). The Sunflower Fund pays for the test cost of people joining the SABMR.
By increasing the number of donors listed on the national database, this offers hope to children and adults diagnosed with leukaemia and other life-threatening blood disorders. Higher numbers on the Registry increase their chance of finding matching bone marrow stem cell donors in order to undergo life-saving bone marrow stem cell transplants.
More About Reach For A Dream
For 27 years Reach For A Dream has been fulfilling dreams for children fighting life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, cystic fibroses, heart conditions and blood disorders. When young children suffer from life-threatening illnesses, they are under extreme pressure to deal with medical issues and are in desperate need of encouragement. Childhood is meant to be the fun, carefree times in life. But children with life-threatening illnesses are little adults. They have swapped play for chemo, snakes and ladders for wheelchairs, hopscotch for the beat of a heart monitor. Reach For A Dream wants to put big dreams back into little lives and enriches these children’s lives by making their dreams come true. We want to help them to forget about doctors, needles, medication and clinical hospital environments, even if it’s just for one day. And by doing this we hope to offer them a magical moment that will help them regain their childhood that is being lost to an illness. Reach For A Dream is a proudly South African foundation with seven branches across the country.