Giving to the less fortunate

Every month Michael donates R5 000 to a charity which he feels needs help. Mitchell has had a long-standing relationship with Weom Apartments in Sandton, and the owner of the luxury housing brand gives Mitchell R5 000 a month for whichever charity he chooses.

“I have to believe in a charity organisation before I consider donating to them,” Mitchell said. “Once I find the organisation, I assess what they need, whether it is food, equipment or maintenance and then use the money to deliver on those needs.”

Mitchell also works closely with the Suunto Dream Runners, a group which enters different races to raise funds for a variety of worthy causes.

For the month of May, Mitchell donated groceries to the Light House Baby Shelter in Randburg. While he was visiting the shelter he also noticed that they needed a climate-control system for the room the children and babies slept in. Mitchell approached Samsung who put him in contact with Fourways Aircon who supplied R15 000 worth of air conditioning to the shelter.

Mitchell also consults on charity projects, facilitating exchanges between companies and charity organisations.

“I’m not sure exactly why I do this,” Mitchell said. “I love helping others, and nothing will stop me from making the lives of poor, unfortunate and underprivileged children a little bit better.

“I could not do this without the help of all the dream runners and companies that provide funding and sponsorship.”

Mitchell encouraged the Fourways community to pool together their resources and also identify needy causes within the community to donate to.

“I’d like companies and individuals to contact me about charity projects that they may want to work on,” he said.

Details: suuntomike@hotmail.co.za