Foundation donates wheelchairs

The Barkzz Foundation donated six wheelchairs to beneficiaries who needed them desperately.

Community members gathered at Phomolong Sports Centre on June 30 to witness the handing over of the new wheelchairs.

Founder of Barkzz Foundation Lehlogonolo Babedi said the beneficiaries are people who depend entirely on disability grants and old age pensions.

“These were people whose wheelchairs were broken and some did not have wheelchairs at all.

“We had 12 people who desperately needed the wheelchairs but we only managed to give six,” said Babedi.

He said the foundation will continue to fund-raise for the people who did not get wheelchairs on the day.

Babedi said they have the names of the people who did not get wheelchairs and as soon as the foundation raised enough funds these people will be the first to benefit.

Asked what inspired the development of Barkzz Foundation, Babedi said in 2015 there was a boy on his street who was in dire need of a wheelchair but no one came to his assistance.

“I decided to raise funds for his wheelchair and with the help of the media the drive to get the young boy a wheelchair got a lot of publicity.

“The fund-raising was a success and I was able to get the boy a new wheelchair.

“After that, I received more requests for new wheelchairs. I then decided to formalise what I do and establish a foundation,” explain Babedi.

His advice to organisations that strive to assist people living with disabilities was that organisations must never give up and he urged organisations to form partnerships and refrain from working separately.

Babedi said people living with disabilities have bigger challenges than what the community may imagine therefore these organistions must have tenacity in serving the vulnerable in the community.

Noxolo Dondolo, who had accompanied her grandmother to fetch a new wheelchair, said their family is very happy.

“We have been trying to get a wheelchair before but there’s so much red tape.

“This new wheelchair will help us as a family so that we can be able to move our grandmother around.

“Now she will be able to socialise with the family because she used to stay in her room,” said granddaughter Noxolo.

She said they want to thank Barkzz Foundation for understanding the challenges faced by people living with disabilities.

Babedi thanked the sponsors who made the acquiring of the new wheelchairs a possibility. The sponsors are FS Shuttle, Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Tembisa Kasi Bikers, XTV, and MOZ Clothing.