More hosts impress with their Wings & Wishes fundraising dinners

The Wings & Wishes organisation has not allowed the severe fundraising constraints brought on by Covid-19 and successive lockdowns to derail its mission to assist sick children and their parents.

Every year, the organisation funds more than 2,100 trips for a sick child and one accompanying adult to medical facilities outside their hometown.

But 2022 has required some creative fundraising, with a series of dinners held by various hostesses providing much-needed support.

The travel costs of a sick child can become astronomical, and Wings & Wishes on average funds three families’ travelling every day, 365 days a year.

It assists families until the child reaches 18, or no longer needs to travel out of his or her hometown for medical treatment.  

Wings & Wishes manager Inge Human said: “Fourteen-year-old Owami and her mom live in Butterworth.

“She started travelling with us in 2016, when she was  diagnosed with laryngeal papilloma.

“The treatment she requires is only available at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.

“To date, we have funded 98 trips to the value of R118,000. 

“Owami and her family are just one of many for whom Wings & Wishes is their only  hope to ensure their children receive the expert medical care they need to live as normal and healthy life as possible.”

But, as with many other NPOs, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a disastrous effect on Wings & Wishes, with fundraising events cancelled due to lockdown protocols.

Companies which sponsored a big portion of Wings & Wishes’ bus tickets had to cancel the agreements that were in place, as they were hard hit during this time.

Wings & Wishes therefore had to self-fund all the travel requests from the beginning of lockdown.  

Before the pandemic, Wings & Wishes held an annual fundraiser in the form of a high tea.

But Human said they had to think out of the box and came up with the idea of several smaller dinners, where the host or hostess would receive a SPAR voucher to buy the food, and each of the guests would donate money for a seat at the table. 

As Wings & Wishes does not receive any government funding, it relies on the support of companies and individuals.

“We are very grateful to every hostess that took up the challenge to be a hero to a child who only wishes to be healthy.”

Nelson Mandela Bay personality Buli G Ngomane held one of these events at her home in Walmer on  November 4, treating her friends to a stylish dinner party.  

Ngomane’s motivation to host a dinner was that she knew the organisation well as she had an office just down the passage from them.

She said it was an honour to assist with raising much-needed funds.

Another Bay resident, Annalene van Rooyen, hosted her event on November 10.

Van Rooyen held a pink-themed party at her daughter’s house in Kragga Kamma Road.

She said her own family had recently experienced the high costs of one of their relatives having to regularly travel to Johannesburg for treatment.

Van Rooyen said she had empathy with families who could not afford to cover such costs.

Walmer Heights resident Loretta Sanderson also hosted a dinner party at Beaumonte Estate on November 20.

Hers was a Christmas-themed event at her home.

She said she had decided to host the dinner as she felt blessed in her own life and wanted to help raise funds for Wings & Wishes.

Human said: “We are very optimistic that we will reach our target of raising R40,000 with the campaign as there are still seven dinners to be hosted.”

She also thanked SPAR for providing the hosts with vouchers.

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