Gugu (one of our awesome cleaning queens) was doing her usual afternoon clean up recently when Kirsty (head marketing Chiquita) asked her how her thirteen year old son, Phila, was progressing with his soccer. FYI – he had highly impressed everyone when he showcased his skills at our Family Fun Day last year.
Gugu informed Kirsty that he had in fact been chosen to train with AmaZulu and that the whole family were very excited about it. As a result of this achievement he had begged Gugu for new boots and she explained to Kirsty how expensive soccer boots are.
I overheard the entire conversation and as soccer is something I’m extremely passionate about, I wanted to find a way to make this boy’s dream a reality…
The next day I sent out an email to the entire building requesting donations to help get Phila a brand new pair of soccer boots. Over a few days I managed to raise R650 through the amazing generosity of the Expand a Sign staff.
With cash in hand I set out to buy him the perfect pair of boots which was so much harder than I thought as I’ve only ever bought boots for myself and I simply had to find a ‘fitting’ pair of boots in his size that screamed “superstar in the making.”
A few shops down, I finally found the perfect pair … not only were they super-cool but on sale for R649!
I got back to the office and called Gugu to see Kirsty where we all gathered to surprise her and hand over the new boots to her. Never have I seen such joy and gratitude in someone’s face before.
The cherry on top was arriving at work the next morning to a heartfelt thank you letter from both Phila and his sister. At that moment I felt the exact same joy Gugu and her son had felt a day earlier.
