Fund-raiser places autism disorders in the spotlight
A portion of customers' bills on May 31 at Spur Festival Mall was donated to Nosh for Josh
EXPRESS attended the Nosh for Josh fund-raiser for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at Festival Mall on May 31.
Nosh for Josh is a non-profit organisation which travels South Africa to raise awareness, funds and support for children living with ASD. The fund-raiser was held at Running Waters Spur and featured master mind mentalist and Nosh for Josh brand ambassador Russell Fox.
Nosh for Josh founder Sandy Pekeur-Sandy said she was excited to see parents of children living with ASD show their support and help raise funds.
Fox said: “I am happy to be the brand ambassador of Nosh for Josh as I was born with various conditions which made me feel abnormal. But, later on in life I learned it was okay to be like this – it is only society that does not understand how to care for a child with certain conditions. I tell people about everything my mother did for me and how she fought to make sure I was admitted to school and was educated.
“I am now a mentalist, perceptionist and illusionist – but I was born with epilepsy, asthma, Tourette’s Syndrome and dyslexia and was declared ineducable.
“I was told I would never drive a car and that I could never learn to read and write. Yet, today I am here doing all those things and much more.
“At 34, I have learned to see things differently because, for my entire life, I had just thought of myself as a person who could not do as much as other people could. As I grew older and matured, I learnt to love and appreciate myself and realised that what I thought was my curse was actually my blessing.”
Fox’s spectacular illusions mesmerised the supporters of the fund-raiser.
Nosh for Josh aims to raise funds for disadvantaged autistic children to be able to go to India for a stem cell operation.
Pekeur-Sandy explained that they would like to establish a centre where doctors can be brought from overseas to perform cell therapy operations, which are currently very expensive.
Children living with ASD are mostly sent to India to undergo this operation.
They also aim to establish an autism centre to assist disadvantaged parents with rehabilitation and want to develop a Nosh for Josh training institute that will run courses, workshops and training for caregivers and families supporting children with autism.
According to Nosh for Josh, in South Africa, a child with autism is born every hour but only 0.001% of the children with the disorder have access to beneficial education.
