Reach For A Dream
Last week I went to the Durban Country Club for a quick meeting. You know the old adage of ‘everything happens for a reason’ – well, this was definitely the case when I popped into the DCC for a meeting last week and during our meeting – a function being held at the club got the news that their MC had just fallen, broken 4 ribs and was in hospital.
I was approached and, with big eyes, was asked if I could possibly stand in at such short notice….the event was in 4 hours. I asked all the normal questions – reason for the event etc., and when I heard the answer there was no way I could say no.
The event was a Mens’s only Golf Day with all proceeds going to Reach for a Dream and all the work they do with children who have life-threatening conditions and making their very big dreams a reality through sponsorship and events like this Golf Day.
I finished the meeting, raced off to get changed and got back to the club in record time.
The evening was an amazing success and Reach for A Dream raised over R180 000.00 thanks to the generosity of the gents on the evening who supported the raffle and auction unconditionally.
One of the Reach for A Dream children, Gabrielle Hamman, was at the event with her parents. What an inspiration! (Read more about Gabby’s condition below).
MC extraordinaire
Anna Rubycz - PR & Events Co-ordinator Reach For A Dream Foundation (KZN)
with Golf Day winners and their Reach for A Dream teddies
with Golf Day winners, Reach For A Dream team and our teddies.
with the ladies who make Reach for A Dream events happen!
with Gabrielle Hamman and her Reach For A Dream teddy – Sean.
Gabby and her family
chatting to Gabby
with Gabby and her Mom, Julie
All about Gabby’s condition in the words of her Mom, Gabrielle was born with a rare skin condition called ILVEN (Inflamatory Linear Verrucous Epidermal Nevus) This condition presents itself as extremely red and dry lesions on the skin which run unilaterally on her whole body, arms, legs, trunk, and face and in the ears and nose. She was born scratching and has not stopped since, the skin in some areas are excessively dry. As the skin is the largest organ of the human body, the effects on her general wellbeing have been extensive, particularly as there is so little information it’s basically trial and error.
She gets creamed from head to foot at least twice a day to maintain the level of dryness. We were never to know that she would still be in nappies at 14 as she is unable to walk, that the joints are stiff due to medication that was essential to maintain wellbeing, also that the intestines and nutrient/ appetite would be affected. My major concern at the moment is the eyes, due to the condition she has extreme dry eyes needing lubrication every 2 hours and drops to maintain vision twice a day. The corneas of the eyes are already damaged and she is unable to have a transplant so we are trying to maintain the eyes at their current vision levels.