What happens when one or two people decide they want to make a difference in their community?
The answer is simple. They organise a fundraising event to aid New Beginnings, amongst the many other things they do for the community.
Occupational Therapist Juanè Raats and the Harley Davidson Club in Bloemfontein have taken it upon themselves for the second year to raise funds for the local animal rescue organisation.
According to Natalie Kotzé, they were able to raise about R57 000. “Shows you that macho bikers wear their hearts on their sleeves,” Kotzé expressed and extended her gratitude for this initiative.
Raats mentioned that this is more than the R45 000 they were able to raise last year. “The biggest part of my work is caring for others. I started to become very involved in charity and organising charity events in 2015 when a friend and I started a band named Remium (Remium means curing all differences in Latin) and our aim was only to do music events for fundraising projects and charity,” she expressed.
She added that because she started the band with a friend who passed away due to Covid-19, she decided to continue the legacy by organising charity events.
“I organised the whole event on behalf of the Harley Davidson Club and with their help and my sister, Margaux Raats, a singer by profession, the legacy of doing charity music events for fundraising continues,” she explained.
Raats, who spoke on behalf of the club, mentioned that one of the main aims of the general biker community is to contribute and assist with charities and to help where they can. “Harley Davidson Bloemfontein tries to assist in at least two or three charity events per year where we do a fundraiser to raise funds or donations to help charities or offer help where it’s needed. It is a massive gesture that is huge in the biker community,” she said.
Raats told the publication that, as an animal lover, she enjoys assisting furry friends who cannot talk and help themselves. “Doing charity is part of my DNA. It is who I am and who I always will be,” she concluded.
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