By Melissa Williams-Platt | Founder and Trustee
The Super Sam Hero Vehicle Project was launched in June 2018. The need was identified when our son, Samuel was in hospital at the end of his life. We saw that many children in government hospitals were sadly ill alone and worse still may even die alone because their parents could not afford to be at their bedside. We also saw that we have incredible hospitals in South Africa, but the access for many families was really tough given their poor social economic circumstances.
Many parents in South Africa can ill afford to leave work to sit for hours at a hospital with their child. Many have to leave early in the morning to catch public transport and then only get back late at night, which given the areas that many of our beneficiaries live becomes a danger and a risk to both the parent and the child as many of their homes are in crime ridden areas. Many parents of chronic children often sadly lose their jobs to care for their children and so their socio economic circumstances become even more challenging.
Our vehicles are not ambulances nor taxis, they are there to take stable children to their clinics and they are there to ensure that each child and family is treated with kindness, love and dignity. We provide a personal chauffeur service in a minivan with awesome and fun Footprints 4 Sam branding. Our beneficiaries are collected at their door and then taken home. Our drivers treat each family like important dignitaries - because that is what they are!! We save parents hours on public transport. We save them having to walk many kilometres, sometimes even carrying their children, as many of them are in buggies or wheelchairs. We solve this heart-breaking challenge for them through kindness and compassion. What may be considered a simple lift to many for our beneficiaries is life changing. You can just imagine the added difficulty of trying to get a chronically ill child, who may have a trache and be on a ventilator into an overcrowded taxi or bus. (A real infection risk, especially during this unprecedented time of Covid-19).
We are very privileged to say that since 2018 we have:
- Achieved a total of 2264 trips
- Transported - 1911 children with a chronic illness
- Covered 103 572 kilometres
We are blessed to get beautiful messages from mothers telling us how impactful the vehicles are in their lives - saving them time and giving them peace of mind and dignity. Just knowing that someone truly cares and is prepared to collect them and their child at their door is simply overwhelming for them. The positive emotional impact is just as important as the social impact and we have seen how our Super Sam Hero vehicles have really turned these families lives around.
During Covid-19 the delivery of Food Buckets and Toiletry (Care) buckets as well as chronic medication, became a priority for us. We have packed the equivalent of over 36000 meals since lockdown was implemented in South Africa at the end of March. Please take a look at our Covid Kindness report for pictures and more information.
Through working with GlobalGiving and our donors both local and international we are able to ensure that this incredible project remains sustainable and that in the future we will then be able to expand our project to other provinces in South Africa. This is a key goal for us, since then we can spread our impact to other parents facing the rollercoaster of chronic illness coupled with devastating poverty.
An enormous thank you to all our GlobalGiving Donors who have reached out and supported us. Please continue to share this project with those you think may also wish to make a donation towards this impactful and life changing initiative where Footprints 4 Sam really does change lives one kilometre at a time.
Given the Rand / Dollar / Pound exchange rate - the smallest donation can make the world of difference in our beneficiaries lives - so keep sharing and keep in touch.
Thank you for being an important and valued member of our Footprints 4 Sam family. Together we can continue to impact our beneficiaries and their families lives in the most profound way.
Please like our social media pages @Footprints4Sam on Facebook and Instagram.
Warmest wishes,
Melissa
Trustee and Co-Founder (And most importantly Sam's Mum!)
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