Gift of the Givers celebrates its 28th anniversary on Thursday, 6 August 2020, having been founded on a Thursday night, 6 August 1992, in Istanbul, Turkey, at the instruction of a spiritual teacher, a Sufi master, Sheik Safer Dal Efendi Al Jerrahi, of the Halveti Jerrahi Sufi Order.
In the months leading up to the anniversary you have witnessed our diverse and intense intervention in the Covid-19 pandemic. We have delivered protective materials including masks, gloves, coveralls, Hazmat suits, head and shoe covers, sanitisers, reusable surgical gowns, scrubs, non-contact thermometers, pulse oximeters, intuboxes, thirty seven triage tents, blankets, mattresses, pillows, hygiene, maternity and baby packs.
We have provided medical equipment including video laryngoscopes and have commenced the rollout of 70 life-saving High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) machines. Our activities have benefited 180 hospitals and health centres throughout South Africa. Gift of the Givers R10 million refurbishment of an entire wing dedicated to Covid-19 at Mitchell’s Plain Hospital will officially open on 6 August, coinciding with our anniversary date.
We have carried out 20000 pcr Covid-19 tests nationwide having set up dedicated teams for this purpose.
Drought is a major challenge. We have drilled 400 functional boreholes in the past two years that have benefited thousands. Currently in the Eastern Cape our water tankers provide 550 000 litres per week, Monday to Sunday, to desperate residents. The desperation has been more intense in recent days as water sources dry out.
Hunger is a bigger crisis than Covid-19. Our call centres, emails and staff are flooded with requests for food. We have delivered aid to areas where children are eating plants to survive or eat anything that comes off a dump site. Gift of the Givers have delivered 130 000 food parcels in South Africa, and 40000 in Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe, collectively. In addition, we are supporting a number of feeding centres and delivering fortified nutrient products to starving children.
Please follow our ongoing interventions on social media as we post current and select archive material (over the next few days) to highlight some of our 21 categories of projects through which we have delivered R3.2 billion in aid to millions of people in 44 countries in our 28-year history. Our thanks to every individual, professional, organisation, business, corporate, government entity, local and international media, our staff, volunteers, counsellors, medical teams, search and rescue teams, family and the Almighty for this achievement making the impossible very possible in our endeavour to serve all of mankind unconditionally. – Gift of the Givers
