July and winter arrived with a blast. We woke up to freezing cold weather, after a long hot summer it was quite a shock. Unfortunately, this also tied in with the arrival of the third, and very severe, wave of Covid. The only way to cope is to look at the positive things in life. So we decided that we would take advantage of this long lockdown and research and consolidate while being indoors and keeping as warm as possible. At the same time the reality for far too many people is that winter is not a warm home with hot food. So once again we were kept busy with charities that were facing this cold winter challenge.
Red Bagels and D.L. Link
Even though Red Bagels were still on sabbatical, we could not resist assisting the call to help from some of our old friends like D.L. link. Their Cancer warriors were having an extremely difficult year as many of their warriors were not able to access all treatments. Hospitals became their enemy due to high COVID patient occupancy. It has also been very difficult for charities to raise funds as most of the normal channels of fundraising events were blocked. D.L. Link made a strategic decision to have only one main fund-raising event this year and make it as impactful as possible. The fun “matching” event was based on the very popular TV series, Money Heist. The organizers took some of their dedicated donors hostages and “demanded” that they give as generously as they could. This was used to encourage other donors to try and make donations, which would be matched with that of a hostage. This lasted until the matched hostage had used up their donation at which time they were released. It was an amazingly fun and exciting couple of days. Due to the fact donations would be doubled, or sometimes tripled, all donations more impactful and Red Bagels could not miss this opportunity to give even if during sabbatical. We are so excited to report that as a matcher Red Bagels were able to be part of the event’s great success.
Red Bagels and Hatzolah
We have an incredibly wonderful organization called Hatzolah. It is a non-profit medical emergency organization. It is staffed by volunteers. Hatzola has remained a five-star organization. However, since Covid-19, if there is such an award, Hatzola has won a 10 Michelin star medical service award. They have served our community like superheroes. They have worked exceptionally hard 24/7/365 nonstop. When the hospitals were full to capacity, they took on the challenge of providing home care to those who needed it. Towards achieving this goal, they have taken on thousands of patients and nursed and cared for severely ill patients in their homes, including monitoring them day and night. Hatzolah has stepped up their game at every possible opportunity. Now they are also running an exceptionally effective vaccination program. As expected their expenses have continued to skyrocket over the past two years. They keep improving in every way. In addition they still manage to maintain their normal medical responses to emergencies. We do not have adequate words to express our thanks to them. Thank you Hatzolah. They are true earth angels. Red Bagels wanted to express our appreciation and gratitude to them and all who have given so unselfishly and tirelessly to them in the only way we can, through giving them an emergency donation that we hope will ensure they continue to go from strength to strength.
Red Bagels and Angel Network
Another proudly Red Bagels donation was given to the Angel Network for specific projects. These specific projects included the “Loving Classroom” project as an emergency relief donation.
LOVING CLASSROOM – BUILDING A LOVING SOUTH AFRICA
Loving Classroom is building a Loving South Africa by training teachers to cultivate Respect, Compassion, Listening, Kindness, Gratitude, Love, Friendship, and Care in their classrooms. To date, we have trained 780 teachers who are working with 25,000 students (from 6 to 16 years old). The Gauteng Department of Education evaluated the impact of the program on 6933 students. The results demonstrate a remarkable reduction in harmful behaviors. Furthermore, academic results increased by 17%.
An overall happiness inducing month. We are proud of South Africa’s charities, NGOs, volunteers, and first responders. A Red Bagels Big Thank you to everyone who has contributed, whether in a big or small way, to all of the positive impacts that these and other worthwhile, hardworking organizations are involved in.
Powered by love and committed to kindness. Enjoy bringing love and kindness into the world.