Casual Day raises R24.8 million for persons with disabilities

A whopping R24.8 million was raised last year by Casual Day, the fundraising project that has seen the South African public open its 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.

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 R195 million.

Mercia Maserumule, the Edcon Group CSI Manager, Transformation and Corporate Affairs says “Edcon understands that full inclusion and integration is important and that able-bodied people need education on issues of disability – so that they have information and are sensitised. The Casual Day project is one of the ways that Edcon can support the mandate of the NCPPDSA, which is to serve the needs of persons with disabilities. We want our staff and customers to be included in this education.”

Beneficiaries of the funds include:

The NCPPDSA, SA National Council for the Blind, SA Federation for Mental Health, Deaf Federation of SA, Autism South Africa, Down Syndrome South Africa, The National Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy, the South African National Deaf Association, the National Institute for the Deaf, Alzheimer’s South Africa, the South African Disability Alliance and QuadPara Association of South Africa.

The team who organises Casual Day pictured at the annual awards ceremony. From L to R: Faheema Granville, Zaza Khazemula, Bonita Lottering, Celeste Vinassa, Josephine Mukalula, Lanie Stoltz and Gabriel Hoffman.