In part 1 of the LottoStar and Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels ‘share the love’ initiative, LottoStar contributed R400,000 to those in need.
LottoStar and GMA will contribute another R500,000 to many more people in need from the 21st September to the 7th October. Remember to nominate a friend, family member or anyone who is in need of financial support so that we can provide some light and love in their lives.
Click here to Nominate someone in need.
Recipient 1
Maria
LottoStar and GMA share the love with a widowed grandmother in the form of R20 000.
Lerato wrote to Good Morning Angels from Botshabelo in the Free State. Lerato’s neighbour, Maria, is the sole bread winner for her family of eight. Her husband passed away two years ago soon after her son, who suffered a brain tumour sadly passed away too. Maria now relies on her government pension to look after her six grandchildren, her daughter and herself. Lerato has sought out various ways of assisting Maria with food parcels for her family, as well as an RDP home but unfortunately, she has not received any response yet. Maria is living in dire circumstances and her biggest concern now is that she cannot afford her grandchildren’s school clothes and stationery.
LottoStar contributed R20 000 to Maria and her family for food, school clothes, stationery and other essentials.
Last updated on: 21/09/2020
Recipient 2
Larissa Kruger
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R20,000 with a single mother awaiting a kidney transplant.
Larissa Kruger receives dialysis three times a week as a state patient while she waits for a lifesaving kidney transplant. Her long wait for a kidney transplant led to her losing her job and income in October last year. She is the sole breadwinner to her daughters as her husband sadly passed away. Larissa could not keep up with the house payments and moved into a house in Delmas where she could stay until it is sold. Her children are in school in Centurion and may have to stay with friends during the week for her daughters to attend school.
LottoStar contributed R20,000 to Larissa and her daughter to help them through this difficult time.
Last updated on: 22/09/2020
Recipient 3
Lauren de Swardt
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R35,000 with a community hero who is fighting for her own life.
Lauren de Swardt, from Mbombela is well-known, loved and respected by many in her community. As a paramedic, she has dedicated her life to helping those in ultimate distress, need and life-threatening situations. It was during one of these situations in 2017, Lauren was attending to a six-year-old girl when she got injured on the job. Despite her own pain, Lauren made sure her little patient was safe and taken care of before she went for a check-up.
Lauren had cracked her ribs but the tests revealed more, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of lung cancer. Doctors found that the cancer is so rare that there was no known treatment protocol and the medical aid did not cover the prescribed treatment.
The community came together to assist Lauren and over the past three years, her cancer has gone into remission and sadly returned. Lauren’s cancer has worsened and she has not been able to work for quite some time. Despite fighting her cancer, Lauren is back at work as a paramedic, however, she needs R35 000 for six months of her new treatment, which is not covered by medical aid.
LottoStar have contributed R35,000 towards Lauren’s cancer treatment.
Last updated on: 23/09/2020
Recipient 4
Amy Olivier
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R10,000 with a tenacious 5-year old, Amy Olivier.
Amy Olivier and her twin-brother André were born five years ago. Sadly, Amy was born with water on her brain and Spina Bifida which is a condition that affects her muscle growth. She has been through several operations in her life but her mother, Shirley-Anne, was told that Amy would never be able to walk. However, Amy has just turned 5-years-old and has started walking all by herself. She falls often as her hips are weak and her feet are pointed inwards but she is scheduled to have an operation to fix this on the 29th September. Unfortunately, Amy’s parents are struggling to scrape together the R6,000 co-payment which is needed for the operation.
LottoStar contributed R10,000 towards Amy’s hip operation. We hope to see little Amy up and running in no time.
Last updated on: 25/09/2020
Recipient 5
Jurie Bekker
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R10,000 with a chef who is about to lose everything
Jurie Bekker’s passion is cooking and he has been a chef all his life. Unfortunately, Jurie’s eyesight started deteriorating and only got worse which led him to losing his job which he loved so much. Jurie has been unable to find other work in his field since and has resorted to selling scrap metal and other items he could find to keep a roof over his family’s head. He has now sold most of their possessions of value to keep paying rent and sadly, the situation has only gotten worse due to the lockdown.
LottoStar has contributed R10,000 to Jurie to assist him and his family through this difficult time.
Last updated on 28/09/2020
Recipient 6
Shoneez Allow
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R20,000 with a single mother of six who is battling skin cancer.
Shoneez Allow has faced many obstacles in her life thus far, she did not matriculate as she had to leave school after Grade 10 to care for her mother who had a stroke. She is a mother to six children and has raised and taken care of all her children on her own. During lockdown, Shoneez was sadly diagnosed with a type of skin cancer, she returned to work in July but was unfortunately retrenched later that month.
Shoneez received a small severance package which she put towards paying her rent and buying living essentials for her family. Two of her children are still in school and she has 4-year-old child who she looks after full-time. Shoneez fears the worst as their situation has become more difficult and she does not know how she will afford her rent in the coming months. Her father and sister assist where they can by providing Shoneez and her family with food but they too have limited resources.
LottoStar have contributed R20,000 to Shoneez to assist her with buying living essentials for her family and paying for her cancer treatment.
Last updated on: 29/09/2020
Recipient 7
Günter Krause
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R15,000 with a single dad who is struggling to support his family.
Günter is a car salesman and a proud dad to his two daughters, Caitlyn and Lourens. As a car salesman, Günter earns a commission-based income, however, during the lockdown, he could not work and couldn’t earn an income. Günter returned to work last month but throughout the lockdown he could not look for alternative employment as he had to stay home with his children.
Like many parents, Günter lives and works for his children, however, the lockdown brought about so many financial challenges for him that he could no longer afford to pay his daughters’ school fees.
LottoStar has contributed R15,000 to Günter so that he can pay for his daughters’ school fees and other living essentials.
Last updated on 30/09/2020
Recipient 8
Sindiswa
LottoStar and GMA share the love with Sindiswa in the form of R20,000
Life has been extremely difficult for Sindiswa, a young mother to two daughters. Two years ago, Sindiswa and her daughters ended up living in a shelter after losing everything they had. Their situation has worsened and Sindiswa has been scraping by and trying to make ends meet for her and her two daughters, ever since.
A few months ago, the unimaginable happened, Sindiswa’s four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Covid-19 and after struggling to breathe, she sadly passed away.
Heartbroken and desperate Sindiswa soldiered on and is doing all she can to provide for her six-year-old daughter. She went from door-to-door to asking for food and work, however, people in her community did not want to be in contact with her, as they feared that she too had Covid-19.
While seeking employment Sindiswa met a kind man who offered her a job, she was extremely grateful. She now earns R600 a month, but she is still living in dire circumstances.
LottoStar has contributed R20,000 to Sindiswa to help her get back on her feet and help her provide for her six-year old daughter.
Last updated on 01/10/2020
Recipient 9
Jamie-Lee Piek
LottoStar and GMA share the love with the Pliek family in the form of R20,000
The Piek-family have had to endure tremendous obstacles and heartbreak in one week. It began with the sudden birth of Jamie-Lee and Quinton Piek’s third son. Baby Aiden was born on Monday, 21 September, Jamie-Lee did not have any contractions but suddenly knew that it was time to give birth to her baby.
Jamie’s husband, Quinton and mother-in-law, Elmarie, helped Jamie-Lee to the car for an emergency trip to the maternity ward. Three minutes into their trip to the hospital, baby Aiden was born. Jamie-Lee delivered him in the backseat of their car with the help of Quinton and Elmarie.
While Jamie and her baby were healthy and doing well in hospital, the Piek’s eldest son, 6-year-old Dylan was admitted in another hospital with suspected meningitis. Dylan was admitted on 16 September with a fever, this was extremely difficult for the family as they could not visit him due to Jamie-Lee’s pregnancy and Covid-19 restrictions.
Sadly, Dylan passed-away on Thursday 24 September, just three days after his baby brother’s birth. The family is devastated, Jamie-Lee and Quinton will be saying goodbye to their beautiful Dylan today at his funeral with brother Jayden (2) and baby Aiden as well as granny Elmarie by their side.
LottoStar and GMA contributed R20,000 to the Piek family to assist them with paying for Dylan’s funeral and with the outstanding medical bills for his treatment.
Last updated on 02/10/2020
Recipient 10
Ethan Erlank
LottoStar share the love in the form of R25,000 with 2-year old, Ethan Erlank.
Noelene van Blerk, a teacher from Vanderbijlpark, came across a sad video of a little boy crying on social media. The little boy in the video was 2-year- old Ethan Erlank. He was born with a club foot – a condition in which a new-born’s foot or feet appear to be rotated internally at the ankle.
Ethan’s mother, Marinda, says that when Ethan started walking, the hospital treated his foot with a soft cast and splint. He can now walk but unfortunately the treatment did not straighten Ethan’s foot which makes walking very painful for him. Ethan was later treated with a hard cast which was replaced every four weeks, however, he developed a rash underneath the cast. This turned into an infection, which prevented Ethan from receiving further cast treatment.
Due to the lockdown, Ethan could not go back to the hospital for months which caused him a lot of pain and discomfort. This was when Noelene saw the video of little Ethan, his pain broke her heart.
Noelene generously arranged for Ethan to go to a private doctor for the first time – the doctor advised that he could assist Ethan with his foot which would relieve the pain. Despite special rates and plans, the operation would cost R30 000,00 which Marinda and her husband cannot afford – especially now that her husband has had to take a salary cut.
Noelene has set up a fund for Ethan with a lawyer and they’ve managed to raise R7000,00 thus far. However, it is still not enough to cover costs of the operation and the medical treatment Ethan will need.
LottoStar have contributed R25,000 towards Ethan’s urgent operation and medical care.
Last Updated on: 05/10/2020
Recipient 11
Thato
LottoStar shares the love in the form of R40,000 with Thato.
Ten-year old Thato was born with cerebral palsy and has required special care ever since. Nkele, Thato’s mother is a single parent and has cared for Thato on her own ever since. She has been able to give her son the care he has needed with the help of her mother. Nkele, is the only breadwinner in her home, at the same time she is studying a B.Com HR Management degree, to improve her job opportunities.
Mariette Jansen, Nkele’s manager, describes her as an amazing woman and mother. “Nkele is an awesome person and great mother, caring and loving. In everything she does, Thato comes first.”
Thato has grown out of his wheelchair and Nkele is saving up to buy a new wheelchair.
This would cost her R30,000 which is not covered by their medical aid.
In the meantime, Thato sits in a make-shift chair but he is too heavy and has fallen out of the chair on numerous occasions. The last time Thato fell out of his wheelchair, he lost a permanent tooth and as his bones are very brittle due to the cerebral palsy, he is at risk of breaking more bones. Nkele fears the worst if Thato does not get a new wheelchair.
LottoStar has contributed a total of R40,000 to Nkele, so that she can buy a new wheelchair for Thato as well as for basic living essentials.
Last updated on: 06/10/2020
Recipient 12
Operation Helping Hands
LottoStar shares the love in the form of R200,000 with Operation Helping Hands.
South African State hospitals are under great strain and the Covid-19 pandemic has put immense pressure on the public medical facilities to provide basic care. Due to the increased pressure on state hospitals, the waiting lists for surgeries have grown even longer. For many South Africans, there is no alternative but to wait until they can receive their much-needed surgery.
A group of private doctors and medical professionals have been working tirelessly to assist some of these patients through Operation Healing Hands (OHH). OHH focusses on providing life improvement and pain relief of state patients such as joint replacements and interventions that will prevent life threatening or impairing conditions like cancer, loss of eyesight and hearing loss.
Although the OHH doctors provide their time, skills, treatment and expertise for free – theatre time at private facilities and consumables during procedures are very costly. Some of the patients that OHH are helping include children, who need their tonsils removed, others need grommets or cancer surgery. The doctors and the patients are ready, however, they are in dire need of financial assistance to help cover the hospital costs.
38-year old, Cornel Breedt is one of the patiencts that OHH will be providing surgery to! Cornel has been struggling with gradual hearing loss for the past 15 years. She has been a state patient for many years as her mother did not have medical aid and subsequently passed away. Cornel has seen many doctors and specialists over the past 15 years, she received a donated hearing aid, however, this did not help. The only solution for Cornel’s rapidly deteriorating hearing loss is an operation to fix the bones in her middle ears. The operation will cost R70 000 and she cannot afford medical aid to cover the surgery she needs. The OHH doctors can provide Cornel with the operation, however, they need financial assistance in order to cover the hospital costs.
LottoStar has generously contributed R200,000 to the doctors of Operation Helping Hands so that they can provide Cornel with her much needed operation as well as many more patients who need medical assistance.
