Lose your balls for charity

A charity-drive to aid injured and abandoned animals all started when Simbithi Eco Estate father and son Ricki and Shane Allen went on a trip to Mauritius where they witnessed first-hand the cruel conditions domesticated animals were exposed to.

Shane, a Curro Mount Richmore grade five pupil asked his dad if there was something they could do to help these animals and so decided to start collecting lost golf balls to sell them and raising funds.

The funds raised, according to both Ricki and Shane all go towards the Humans Helping Animals non-profit organisation based in Tongaat. Humans Helping Animals have been instrumental in educating people to be responsible pet owners while also assisting with the sterilisation of animals to prevent more and more strays from roaming the streets.

The organisation also helps and rescues neglected, abandoned and abused pets. On average, Ricki and Shane collect about 30 golf balls per search – or even during dam dives – session but have since had to switch to purchasing bulk packs of recyclable golf balls online as many golf courses do not allow the public to collect lost golf balls.

ALSO READ: A pawsome second chance with Humans Helping Animals

Ricki and Shane sell packs of 10 golf balls for as little as R60.

To date, they have raised a whopping R1500 which has gone to Humans Helping Animals and, Ricki’s fellow golfing buddies, who admit they’re not all that good at golf, will match the amount and bring it up to R3000.

Ricki’s golfing buddies, the Italian Giuseppe Bono and the New Zealander Ralph Crump – who refer to Ricki as the Englishman – got together and formed the Slice-It golfing team which aids Shane in his campaign, as well as other charity drives.

Hilariously, the men all admit that they may know more about golf than they do about how to actually play the game, hence the name ‘Slice-It’, because they can’t strike a proper four and instead only cut grass.

The team got together way back when Ricki accidentally struck a golf ball into Ralph’s property at Simbithi, nearly hitting Ralph’s wife and grandson. “He said to me, you are as bad at golf as I am. We should play together some time,” said Ricki.

Today, the Slice-It team hopes to start golfing tours with the aim of raising funds for local charities throughout the Ballito and North Coast communities.

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Recently, team Slice-It managed to also get two golf balls personally signed by both the Simbithi Club Captain Louis De Colbert and, well-known golf course designer Peter Matkovich.

Both the golf balls were taken to the William Webb Ellis tomb stone in France by Ricki, where rugby fans often leave behind tokens to the father and creator of rugby.

To stay up-to-date on the Slice-It team’s adventures, follow them on their newly created Instagram page at @wesliceit or contact Ricki at 082 442 4812.

To get in touch and find out how you can help Humans Helping Animals, contact Jeannie Pedersen at 062 025 9263.

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