DO IT NOW | inVOLVED:
Words by Rob Riccardi Photos courtesy of The CHOC Cows
"Planning is don’t know It was catchy. And it stuck. Doing away with protocol and red tape. The motley crew of dappled bovines permeated the psyche of a nation with their dangling red Rolling Stones tongue and their inability to say no. Regular Joes and Janes soon realised that armed with a slogan and a cow suit, anything was achievable. And the concept was simple: Choose a meaningful project, invite your friends to ride the 94.7 Cycle Challenge, dress up like a cow and raise lots of moolah to help children affected by cancer. It doesn’t get more simple than that! It all started back in 2008 when a group of friends decided to ride in memory of little Jessica Madison Bain, who passed away aged 20-months-old from a childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma. To keep Jessica’s memory alive, her parents, Kerrin and Grant, decided to cycle the 94.7 Cycle Challenge and raise money for the Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC). CHOC had played a significant role in the Bain family’s life in the last few weeks before Jessica’s passing, specifically with palliative care and emotional support. A team gathered around the Bains and with the help of Kerrin’s colleague and friend, Cordi van Niekerk, a fundraising project was soon conceived. Their aim was to raise R60,000. At the end of that sweat-filled race, six enthusiastic cyclists riding in cow suits had succeeded in raising a staggering R230,000. Aim for the stars and you may just hit the moon! Fast forwarding to 2009, the Cows now had street cred. But in this day and age of charlatans and great pretenders, they would need to dig deeper to show that they were not a flash in the pan, but rather a formidable fundraising machine in the fight against cancer. So 2009 became known as the ‘Year of the House’. It was agreed that the money raised would go towards buying a CHOC House in Diepkloof Soweto, to house the patients receiving treatment at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
142 >> DO IT NOW December/January 2011