Reach for a Dream-Namibia-2013

[Martinvt]

Loco wrote:
Hi guys, you have really inspired people to come to the party supporting your very worthy cause

The company I work for, Rand Merchant Bank, has generously come up with the following proposal:
- Whatever money you don’t get to get to R125K, RMB Hugfund will “fill up” to reach R125K.
- If you get to R125K on your own (without RMB's contribution), RMB Hugfund will give R75K to Reach for a Dream.

Well done guys please keep up the good work and please fly safe!

Regards
Ant

[Louis Cole]

Reach for a Dream -2013-05-12
It is difficult to explain the response we’ve had thus far with regard to our fundraising project. Having been a Policeman, one mostly encountered the bad side of people but in the last week I’ve had to make a serious mind shift to believe that there are such good people in South Africa. Yesterday we went to a musical event in the local Ou Winkel theatre and ended up as guest speakers. The vice –chairman started auction like, to ask people to donate R500-00 each and ended up with R8000. Our hosts contributed R3000 besides the two nights free accommodation. That was two dreams in one night.
When we got home we received an SMS from Anthony Hugo from Rhino Park, who works for Rand Merchant Bank that he had negotiated with RMB to top up whatever amount we fall short of our target of R125000, they will top up and as an incentive they will contribute R75000 if we make our target on our own. How about that. Thanks Anthony and everybody who has so generously contributed so far. We will get an update tomorrow from Reach for a Dream w.r.t . actual payments made. Please remember to use “25 Dreams” and your name or school, institution or club as the reference.

PS - Due to intermittent access to internet, the posts might be a tad outdated.

[Loco]

Hi Louis en Oom Polla, please keep up the awesome work, you guys are truly inspirational!!!

Just because RMB will guarantee the R125k we don't want it to stop there

We'd like to challenge all ML's (and their employers) to help raise the initial R125k so that Reach for a Dream can get the additional 15 dreams (R75k)!

Cheers
Ant

[Louis Cole]

Ant your contribution with our effort is just incredible and will inspire us to reach our target.

[Louis Cole]

I’d like to quote Natalie Lazaris, the National Business Manager of Reach for a Dream:
”Fantastic news. Total raised so far is R40800 (8 dreams). We are raising awareness on our Twitter , Facebook and website. Paul and Louis, this is truly amazing. Thank you for this opportunity for our dreamers.”

We can only say thank you to everybody who has contributed thus far and I feel quite confident that we will make our target of 25 dreams.

[Louis Cole]

We bagged another dream today and have now raised R47800 (9 dreams). A student pilot ,Marius Lensing donated R5000 and has challenged other pilots to reciprocate. Our host is a local dog handler in the SAPS in Upington and also an instructor on a Jabi with who has offered to accommodate us free of charge for 3 days. I cannot begin to explain to what lengths this guy has gone to make our stay comfortable and to assist with logistics, arranging hangarage, keys and remotes for gates etc. Not too many of his calibre left but nice to actually meet one again. If you ever pass through Upington ask for Ettienne Venter at the airport. Our goal was to reach at least 10 dreams before we leave S.A. and we are almost there.

[Louis Cole]

R51200 raised to date and into the 11th dream

[Louis Cole]

This collaboration with the Reach for a Dream Foundation started with our own dream to fly in Namibia as two “old ballies” and ended with us trying to raise R125000 to realise 25 dreams of children with life threatening diseases. I was drawn to the fact that many of these children also had flying dreams similar to ours. The difference was that we were in a position to realise our dreams but sadly many of these kids would not be able to.

At first I proposed to the MISASA Exco. that they consider becoming an official partner of the Foundation but had no time to persue this. Next I considered incorporating flights for some of these children en route during our journey but this proved to be logistically impractical. We eventually settled for a straight fundraising effort via calls to our friends, acquaintances, businesses, the media and social media.

We managed to raise R15000 before we departed and R47800 by the time we entered Namibia and were reasonably optimistic that we would achieve our target at the end of our trip on July the 5 th. when our mandate expired. By this time RMB had pledged to pay the difference and this took a lot of pressure away from us at the time that the rigours of the trip started to take its toll on both of us.

By the time we had returned we had raised R65900 well short of our target and Anthony Hugo aka Loco, genuinely sounded very disappointed when I called him on July the 1 st. to inform him that we did not achieve our target. On the very last day before our mandate to raise funds for Reach for a Dream expired, we secured a major donation from B T Games for the balance of the shortfall and that qualified us for the R75000 bonus that RMB pledged in the event of us achieving our target. Not only did we raise enough funds to realise 25 dreams but we managed to increase it to 40 dreams thanks to the generosity of a caring public.

Throughout our journey we were privileged to meet in credible people who impressed us with their unbelievable generosity;
- Two neighbours each realised a dream;
- Ettienne Venter our friendly cop in Upington facilitated one dream on behalf of Upington;
- The Mareetsane residents raised R12000 auction style during a music show we were invited to;
- We were really humbled when the local school of black kids pledged to do a tin collection on our behalf after we failed to turn up in time due to strong winds and they had to return back disappointedly;
- Asterix and Kloot Piloot each donated generously and between them realised more than one dream;
- Rand Merchant Bank through Anthony donated R75000 (15 dreams);
- Pierre Christian a complete stranger who donated R10000 (2 dreams) in Sesriem.
- B T Games donated R75000 to make up our shortfall;
- Many individuals also generously made donations to contribute towards our goal for which we are truly greatful.

We would further like to thank everyone who followed our journey and contributed to our fundraising efforts and trust that you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed the trip.