Carolyn Steyn helps Feed our Crew in South Africa

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Carolyn Steyn, South African philanthropist, actress, founder of 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day and Classic FM1027 radio host personality, has donated R100,000 to the Feed Our Crew initiative established to help theatre and entertainment crew and freelancers who most need assistance.

As an accomplished actress, Carolyn was concerned about the welfare of the theatre crew, especially after the lock-down in South Africa was extended. The entertainment business has been one of the hardest hit industries in the country. When Carolyn saw a Facebook post by one of her friends, Debra Batzofin, theatre practitioner in the industry for the past 46 years, it ultimately enabled her to pay it forward.

“Carolyn immediately assisted me, and we were able to feed 50 people,” explains Debra Batzofin. “But when she wanted to donate additional funds, I suggested we approached Duncan Riley of DWR Distribution and the SOS Charity fund to help come up with the best solution.”

Without hesitation, Duncan advised the monies would make an enormous difference to the Feed our Crew campaign. “Everyone is fighting a financial battle right now, but there are those who are unable to feed their families, and this is where Feed our Crew comes in,” commented Duncan Riley. “I was humbled by this act of generosity and believe that if there were more people like Carolyn and Debbie, the world’s problems would be so much less. Thank you so much for this contribution.”

Feed Our Crew is a non-governmental organization, manned by passionate volunteers, who are providing temporary support through food vouchers to the technical, theatre and casual event crews during the Covid-19 lockdown period. Initially, the aim was to give each person eligible for assistance a voucher valued at R1,000 from Shoprite/Checkers. However, with an influx of desperate cries for help, the vouchers will be reduced to R500 per person, with the aim of helping more individuals.

The concern is to still be able to assist people over the next few months.

If you live in South Africa and are able to assist in any way, please visit www.feedourcrew.co.za and click the ‘donate’ button or email the team at [email protected]

All internationals wanting to assist are kindly asked to follow this link to make a donation: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/feed-our-crew