Stop drinking for February, give the cash to good cause

IF you feel like you need a break from alcohol after the festive season, why not join AlcoFreeFeb – stop drinking for February and raise money for a worthy cause. The non-profit organisation NPO South Africans Against Drunk Driving (Sadd) works in education, prevention, research, and service delivery concerning the use of alcohol and the harm misuse causes, especially on roads. “About 18 000 people are killed on our roads, and 150 000 more are injured yearly – with at least 58% of these crashes due to alcohol misuse,” South Africans Against Drunk Driving official Caro Smit said. “Children as young as 12 are starting to drink heavily in SA and this affects their future potential,” she said. Smit said last year Sadd had managed to distribute manuals written for doctors to deal with alcohol abuse and drunk driving in emergency rooms at 50 hospitals in South Africa.

“We would like to expand on this programme in 2016,” she said. Each person who signs up for AlcoFreeFeb will pay either R100 for the whole month or R50 for a 10-day challenge. “If there are special occasions in the month when one wants to drink alcohol, you can buy a “drinking day pass” called a SpecialBreak, for R20,” Smit said. “AlcoFreeFeb started in South Africa in 2010, and is based on a similar campaign that started in Australia and is highly successful. “Past participants have told us that by being involved they have lost weight, saved money, found more time, energy and productivity in their day, and slept better. “In addition, many people have found that it has increased awareness around their own and their families’ consumption and possible problems with this, as well as feeling good about raising money for a charity in a fun way,” she said. “We really feel that this campaign could make a significant impact in South Africa.”