Absa Riders Help Big Tree To Grow

2013-03-19

The cost of school uniforms is out of reach for many rural learners whose parents are seasonal farm workers. Often learners go to school with hand-me-downs that are ill-fitting or broken.

The Big-Tree Foundation’s Dress4Success programme provides a solution to this problem. When a school joins the programme, teachers and principals identify the most needy learners. Big Tree Foundation then receives the list of learners and a school representative secures the stock at a local clothing retailer who in turn sends Big Tree Foundation a quote. Once the foundation has paid the retailer, the learners are taken to the store to fit their brand new school clothing.

 
Tiaan Straaus and Corné Krige ride in aid of the Big Tree Foundation 

These uniforms help to boost the learners’ confidence, which improves attendance and their academic results.

The Absa Cape Epic has provided an excellent platform for Big Tree Foundation to raise much-needed funding for the Dress4Success programme. The generosity of the riders who participate through Big Tree Foundation entries account of a huge percentage of the foundation funding. The event has allowed Big Tree to develop and assist an average of more than 800 learners each year.

Some of the teams participating this year in aid of Big Tree Foundation include Tiaan Strauss and Corné Krige (The Absa Kalahari Ferraris), as well as Jennie Stenerhag and Craig Gerber (Big Tree Warriors).

However, another team participating in the event this year made up by Thomas Oberli and Benjamin Morf (bike2help.ch) also managed to make an enormous contribution to Big Tree Foundation. The bike2help.ch team made a generous donation of R38 000 to Big Tree. The donation will allow Big Tree to restore the dignity of more than 80 children by providing school clothing through the Dress4Success programme.

Says Oberli: “We’ve been involved with the Big Tree Foundation through the Absa Cape Epic since 2009 and this is our third year that we’re supporting the foundation. We can see that the money we’re donating is being used for a good cause and we’re happy to continue supporting Big Tree.”

Morf adds: “The Cape Epic is very difficult and we jokingly say that helping the children is bike2help, but actually riding the Epic is bike2hell.”

Visit www.bigtree.org.za for more information.