Lucky grannies win cruise holiday

LUCKY doesn’t begin to describe the winfall two TAFTA residents had when they won a cruise to Mozambique and the Portuguese Islands.

It all started when volunteers at the Robin Hood Foundation received a unexpected call from from a young woman called Kreeneshni Govender who lives in Geneva.

According to Robin Hood Foundation’s co-ordinator, Kim Griffith Jones, Kreeneshni had seen on social media and the internet the work the foundation does in the community and particularly its Bless-a-Granny and Grandpa visits.

Her family had booked her mum and dad on a cruise departing 1 November and due to unforeseen circumstances, they could no longer go.

The cruise was an inside cabin for two people on the MSC departing on 1 November and returning on 5, travelling to Mozambique and the Portuguese Islands. This was an all inclusive deal – meaning all meals and coffee and teas were covered, worth over R12 300 for the entire trip.

Kreeneshni contacted Robin Hood wanting to donate the trip to someone who might not have been able to afford to take such an adventure.

“When we received the call, we immediately started chatting about a visit we had done with Bless-a-Granny in 2014 to Tafta Lodge. Our chairlady, Cindy Norcott and I were both so emotional and so touched when we walked over to the big boards at the front of the hall where residents had completed the sentence ‘Before I die I want to…’ What we were looking at were some of the last wishes and dreams for some of the elderly in this home, some of the ‘dreams’ broke our hearts! I remember one saying, ‘I want to sing one last time’ and one in particular ‘I want to go on a cruise,’” said Kim.

She immediately connected Tafta with Kreeneshni via email and although they tried to locate the granny whose wish it was to ‘go on a cruise’, they couldn’t. But time was of the essence, there was a deadline to transfer the tickets out of Kreeneshni’s parents name and into the new guest’s names and not wanting this incredible gift to go wasted, they asked all the elderly folk at Tafta Lodge who had passports in their possession, to add their names to a ‘lucky draw’.

“To say that Mrs Mathen and Mrs Hillman were thrilled when their names were drawn, was an understatement! We have the privilege of meeting with and connecting to such incredible people almost on a daily basis, those in our community that give and serve and those that receive with such humility and gratitude. This particular connectivity has been so wonderful to have played a hand in making a dream come true for an elderly person who might only have one last wish, taking what we try to achieve with Bless-a-Granny and Grandpa campaign each year to a whole different level!” said Kim.