2009 proved to be a challenging year for everyone in SA due to the international economy, although we were still amazed with the love and care expressed by our donors and the public in general!
Thank you appeal: The SAGA fridge magnet seems to be an increasingly popular item in many homes across SA, and we therefore started 2009 off with sending out this to all our supporters as a small token of our appreciation for their generous support throughout the year. A very big thank you to everybody who so generously sent back a donation and “thank you” to those who signed up for a Debit Order.
ANNUAL SAGA CAR COMPETITION: Congratulations to Miss Lucelle Vladislavich of Eloffsdal, Pretoria, who was the lucky winner of the VW Tenaciti – the prize in our annual car competition so wanted by many of our supporters countrywide! We trust that you will have loads of fun with your prize! The competition was started off during March at Hobby X at the Coca Cola Dome in Gauteng. This was the first of many weekends where we were selling tickets for the car. A great big thank you to all the puppy raisers, volunteers and staff which helped sell these tickets and helped make the fantastic amount of R437 386.34, we would not be able to do this without your help. THANK YOU. Also thank you to all the Show organizers and Shopping Centre Managers who gave us space to have the car there and sell tickets – Garden Ex, DSTV Getaway Show, the Outdoor Expo, the Women’s Show, World of Cats and Dogs, and various shopping centers around Gauteng including Northgate Mall, Cresta Centre, the Glen Shopping Centre, Mooiriver Mall (Potchefstroom), - just to name a few! We would like to expand this drive, so should you know a contact person with an expo organizer or a centre manager, please contact us with their details. For 2010 we have acquired a much more luxury prize – a Nissan Lavina 1.6 Visia to the value of R150 000, but unfortunately we had to increase the ticket price to R20, as it’s been at the previous level for the last 10 years!
MARLEY & ME CAMPAIGN: We reported that Jonathan Ball Publishers chose SAGA to be the beneficiary of the Marley and Me Campaign. Proceeds from the sale of the new released book, “Marley and Me”; – R40 000 – was presented to us during a premier of the movie in conjunction with NuMetro Cinemas! Whow, what a campaign! A big thank you to Elmarie and her team from JBP – it was great to work with you on this campaign. I trust you do not regret the visit of your “children” to the JBP offices during October – they’re somewhat better behaved by now!
SAGA TOY PUPPIES: After careful consideration and research we sourced an overseas supplier for the SAGA toy puppies, and a consignment was ordered to test the market! We started selling these at expo’s and shopping malls, and also included it into our Xmas calendar and they truly proved to be very popular! Approximately 7 000 of these fluffy friends have been sold to date at a price of R25 per unit – adding some warmth and love into many homes across SA!
“GREEN EARTH BALL”: The 9th annual Guide Dogs Ball was held at the Montecasino Ballroom on Saturday 12 July, and this year we had a very appropriate theme – “Green Earth” – there is a more extensive report of the event further on in this magazine. We are proud to report that the total of guide dogs sponsorships raised on the night amount to R327 500 received to date! For 2010 Montecasino will be the host for the 4th year of this exquisite event and the date is set for 18 September, with a theme of “spring”! So, please contact either Pieter, Noel or Rosette for further information and secure your sponsorship or your booking for the night.
SAGA/NAC PARTNERSHIP: It was previously reported that a partnership with the National Airways Corporation (NAC) was in the process, which has become a reality in the meantime! Tracy and Tanya on behalf of NAC put their thinking caps on, and SAGA received fantastic support throughout the year in the form of the following: 3 dogs that were transported to Cape Town, the sponsoring of R12 000 towards the training of 2 puppies as future guide dogs, an Easter drive to raise money towards much needed dog beds for our kennels, participation in the SAGA golf day, a sponsorship towards our 1st annual Fly-fishing, a lovely prize towards our Gauteng schools project, an in-flight “Flight for Sight” campaign, - just to mention a few of the areas of involvement! Thank you so much for the dedication and passion of the ladies driving the SAGA/NAC partnership, and we’re looking forward to great “heights” in the future!
FLY-FISHING EVENT: After we had a trial run in 2008, SAGA held our first exclusive Fly-fishing event in Dullstroom on 5 September 2009 – resulting into a net profit of R44 600 raised! The event co-coordinator was Jonathan Boulton from Mavungana Fly-fishing and we had 28 entries on the day! Every effort was made to add to this being a prestigious event, and we’re proud to say that Noel and Jonathan’s dedication just did that! After a very early start on the Saturday morning, and a day of fun and enjoyment, everyone was treated afterwards at the prize-giving function held at Chritchley! Well done to Noel and his sub-committee – I’m sure this is to be followed by many more events in the years to come! For more information such as how to become involved as a sponsor or an entrant for the 2010 event, please contact Noel or Rosette – the date is already set for 28 August with an amazing prize up for grabs namely an all expenses trip to fly fish with Jonathan Boulton at an international destination worth over R50000. Please don’t delay as the field is limited to 35 anglers.
GOLDEN LIONS RUGBY UNION ALLIANCE: During 2009 SAGA was also selected as one of the charities of choice of the Golden Lions Rugby Union and a big word of thanks to Krystle Geach and her team for the much needed awareness raised at their local matches, not to mention their support in purchasing SAGA toy puppies, match programme advertising for SAGA and player involvement in the SAGA golf day.A big thank you to the Lions Rugby Union and good luck for the upcoming Super 14. It was a pleasure and honour to work with them during 2009.
“SUNSHINE CAMPAIGN”: During the month of August we launched the all media SMS Campaign –“Sunshine”. This is to raise very valuable awareness on guide dogs and mobility through the long cane across the board and it was supported by a number of media houses through newspaper articles, magazine coverage, bill board advertising, radio and tv coverage, etc. A substantial amount of money was raised this year with little cash in-put – our sponsors were once again truly amazing to be part of this! Thank you to all those companies who kindly sponsor each year to make this project such a success. Thank you to Barry Mason for everything you did to make this campaign so successful and powerful – it is truly appreciated.
GUIDE DOGS CARNIVAL: This was held on Sunday the 4th of October and it turned into a beautiful day, in spite of threatening weather conditions in the morning! We had a record number of visitors! There were lots of Flea market Stalls, food stalls, a vintage car exhibition, a radio control exhibition, etc., etc.! A big thank you to everyone for always supporting our Guide Dog Day. As usual the Win ‘n Spin was very popular amongst the children and some adults – a big thank you to all those companies who so kindly sponsored prizes for this. Whilst the children were spinning at the Win ‘n Spin the adults spent their money at the garden stall – thank you to all the nurseries who once again stocked our garden stall which was, as usual, a huge attraction. A huge thank you to SAB Miller for sponsoring the beer garden which proved to be very popular! People could relax under the SAB umbrellas whilst entertained by Doug and Hazel who mc’d the event, whilst watching all the various activities in the arena – puppy races, a blind cricket demonstration, various dog shows, the guide dog demo including a challenge with Bailey Schneider & Mags Van der Westhuizen under blindfold, a puppy fancy dress, etc.! Lots were on offer to eat and drink, and some fun entertainment for the kids was also an attraction! Although we had to cancel our white elephant sale, the book sale seemed to have been very popular amongst young and old! We hope to secure the bounce ball pool again this year which proved to be a great activity.Please keep us in mind when you empty your bookshelves during 2010 – we will definitely have another Guide Dogs Carnival towards the end of the year – all due to public demand! Thank you to everyone involved for your support – it’s very difficult to acknowledge one person, as everyone unselfishly through in their wait organizing, building up, manning stalls, breaking down and cleaning up afterwards! THANK YOU ALL!
MOTOR CYCLE SUPPORT: Another surprise during the Guide Dogs Carnival was the presentation of 2 guide dog sponsorships to the value of R20 000 from the BMW Motor Cycle Club Central Gauteng! Jorge and Maureen, thank you for constantly driving SAGA as your charity throughout the year – it’s much appreciated! SAGA was also recently adopted by another Christian motorcycle club based in Alberton and already received product sponsors from them! Leon and his club are actually planning a big charity day during March 2010 – all in support of SAGA! Some more motor cycle news is that SAGA had a complimentary stand at the annual ToyRun held at Nasrec on 29 November during which a staggering R9 500 was raised within 6 hours! SAGA is furthermore also selected as the charity of choice for 2010 for the Harley Davidson Club Pretoria, and they plan to kick the year off with a breakfast run on 28 February 2010!
2009 SAGA GOLF DAY: Thursday the 22nd October saw us at the Dainfern Country Club for our Annual Golf Day. Eugene Beck FROM Roadcover ONCE AGAIN booked more than 10 4 x balls for the day. Thank you Eugene and Jade for helping us make such a success of our Golf Day. Thank you also to Tommy from Chemical Converters who donated a number of the 4 ball prizes – he is always happy to assist! A big thank you also to the Golden Lions Rugby Union for entering 4 players, and they also assisted magically during the prize-giving as well! Thank you to all the companies who took part in the day by either playing, sponsoring prizes or sponsoring a hole. We have not finalized the date for 2010, but keep an eye on your mail – info will be forwarded in due course!
KAROO TO COAST CYCLE RIDE SUPPORT: It’s a once in a lifetime experience that you get a phone call raising a number of questions re a guide dog sponsorship, whereupon you forward the requested information, just to receive a call within a week that your charity had been selected to receive a total of 8 sponsorships towards the training of guide dogs! This happened during the latter part of the year, instigated by Olwen Toms from the Knysna Lions! A SAGA representation visited the Knysna and Uniondale Lions Clubs on 17 October, and was privileged to receive their combined donation of R80 000 – a portion of the proceeds raised with the Karoo to Coast Cycle Challenge! A very big thank you to the generosity of these 2 clubs – you are truly amazing! Nico Kleyn from SAGA already indicated that he wish to enter a team into the 2010 event to ride for SAGA – so if you’re interested, please forward your information to the fundraising office in Johannesburg, and we’ll keep you posted with the development of this venture!
LIONS CLUB POTCHEFSTROOM & ARMY SUPPORT BASE POTCHEFSTROOM CHARITY BALL: This started off in 2008 when SAGA was selected as beneficiary of the proceeds of the Lions Club Potchefstroom’s art exhibition – a wonderful donation of R20 000 was then received! This, however, escalated into another magnificent combined effort during 2009 between the above parties resulting in a staggering R90 000 donation towards the training of guide dogs during their Charity Ball of 6 November 2009 held at the Madiba Hall in Potchefstroom! This was a combination of funds raised through this year’s art exhibition and a donation received from the Transnet Foundation! Another huge thank you goes to Ansonette, Phillip, Sandra and your team for passion and care expressed through this wonderful donation! Should anyone wish to contribute any pieces of art for the 2010 project, or should any artist out there would like to participate, please be in contact with the fundraising team, and we’ll put you in contact with the relevant persons – they’re already hard at work for this year’s exhibition!
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT: Wednesday, 2nd of December was the date for this year’s event! Hosted by Edith Venter, supporter of SAGA, the programme consisted of Santa arriving in a helicopter, arranged compliments of NAC, and followed by performances by the St Peters College Choir, and Joseph Clarke in combination with the Gabo Motso Tenors! Although we didn’t rain out before hand, the heavens opened half way through the show, resulting into the half of the audience running for their vehicles, the other half running for shelter in the SAGA hall, where a wonderful performance by the choir was continued! On the field members of staff, volunteers and some supporters had their hands full protecting equipment, goods on sale, stabilizing gazebo’s, etc. – wet and hair raising! After the storm was over, the second half of the show continued with a most glorious performance by Joseph Clark and the tenors! What a show! In spite of all of this, we still managed to raise approximately R25 000 on the night! A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this not-to –be-forget experience, including the artists, but a very special word of thanks goes to Steve and Andy and their team for sponsoring the stage, sound and lighting, in spite of very risky circumstances! We’ll certainly have to put in our order for glorious weather for 2010!
SCHOOLS PROJECT: We cannot say thank you enough to the Gauteng Schools who have so kindly donated in money and kind over the past year. Pieter and O’Reilly were very busy visiting schools and making guide dogs visible. They will be doing the same this year – so please don’t hesitate to contact us to arrange a time when they can come visit you or maybe you would like to visit our Centre. THANK YOU.
GUIDE DOG ACCESS: We are currently in negotiations with Broll Properties and Nestle Purina to sponsor the manufacturing of Guide Dog Access stickers to be available for distribution to shopping centers, public places, etc. should this be successful, we trust that it will be good news to our guide dog owners, as it will hopefully raise much needed awareness re the access of guide dogs in public places. Information on this to follow in future reports once the project gains momentum.
No report is complete without the many Thank You’s to those who have supported us throughout the year:-
Purina Pet Care (who supply our dogs with food, not to mention the other sponsorships they do), Montecasino, MJ Event Gear, Revlon, Moreson Wines, Gideon’s Flowers and functions, NAC, Nestle, SAB Miller,Roadcover, Chemical Convertors, Panorama Publishers, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Cargo Africa/ Imperial, 5th Dimension, Live Sound and Avtech
To all our loyal volunteers – who come to guide dogs on a daily basis, sometimes doing mundane tasks, and who so willingly (I hope!!!) help sell tickets at the expo’s and shopping centres - THANK YOU
Schools, service clubs, organizations, social clubs and departments of companies and individuals who have sponsored guide dogs or puppies, golf days, etc
Puppy Raisers for all they do – especially helping sell tickets for the car competition
Our loyal supporters for their donations in cash or kind
Executive Committee for their continued support
Staff and their relatives who so kindly give of their time after hours and over weekends
THANK YOU EVERYBODY
Pieter & O’Reilly, Noel, Ros and the 3 K’s