Casual Day 2013 reaches significant milestone

The final audited amount of money raised last year for the Casual Day fundraising campaign has just been released: a whopping R23.5 million has been raised.

The Gateway Society on the West Rand came second in the top performers in the NGO category for raising R256 962.00 in the 2013 Casual Day campaign.

This NGO services approximately 45 suburbs ranging from Northern Joburg, Roodepoort, Dobsonville, Mogale City, and Randfontein.

Casual Day is the fundraising project that has seen the South African public open their hearts to persons with disabilities for almost two decades.

Casual Day celebrates its 20th anniversary year in 2014 and will be pulling out all the stops with its Bring out the Bling theme, which was recently announced at the project’s annual awards ceremony.

Sponsored by The Edcon Group, Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa (NCPPDSA), which this year celebrates 75 years of service to the community of persons with disabilities. Over the past 19 years, Casual Day has helped the NCPPDSA to fulfill its mandate of creating a barrier-free, fully accessible and inclusive society for all, raising almost R195 million.

The highlight of the morning was a rousing talk by wheelchair tennis superstar Lucas Sithole, who lost both his legs and most of his right arm when he fell under a train aged 12, only to become the first South African to win a title at the US Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.

Long-time Casual Day ambassador and award-winning star of stage and screen, Terence Bridgett, was the Master of Ceremonies.

Casual Day Project Team Chairman and Executive Committee member of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa Mac Mia gave some background history of the project, explaining that, Casual Day was not built by one individual, it is a collective effort of which we can all be proud. Casual Day was built, one sticker at a time, by everyone who participated over the last 19 years.

“The competition in this space has become crowded with social agencies and fundraisers, each with a strong purpose and all chasing the same pots of gold. If we are to remain relevant and successful we need to strengthen the Casual Day brand and we need to target our audience as a trustworthy, transparent, accountable and focused campaign,” says Mac.

For more information on how to participate in Casual Day go to www.casualday.co.za.