Durban - A cup cake is more than just a little item of confectionery for an eManzimtoti family. Way more.
Annual September sales of cup cakes in their thousands, at R15 a pop, have helped families like that of Chris Botes, 16, a childhood cancer and brain tumour survivor, with medical bills once their insurance kitty ran dry.
His treatment has included operations at Entabeni Hospital and in Cape Town, where he had stem cell treatment.
“It’s been a very hard five years,” his grandmother Emmie Barnard told the Independent on Saturday.
On September 30, malls throughout South Africa will be sites of cupcake sales to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and raise funds for Cupcakes of Hope, an organisation that assists, on average, 70 “cancer warriors” each month by paying for some of their medical treatments and other day-to-day expenses like food, clothing and transport for hospital visits.
The family’s local outlet is at Galleria Mall.
Chris, who was a rugby-loving 11-year-old at Laërskool Kuswag when he was diagnosed, now attends a special school and battles with his eyesight and ADHD, while his twin brother Jacey jr has moved on and is now training to be a jockey.
“You just stay positive and pray for a miracle every day that things will get better,” said Barnard, who provides support as Chris’s parents, Cristelle and Jacey sr Botes, both work.
“In the end, you just get stronger.”
The multitudes of cup cakes don’t just drop down from heaven.
Actually, maybe they do. Volunteers called “Cup Cake Angels” bake them in their home kitchens.
Buyers are urged to not purchase them only for themselves.
“Maybe customers can buy them to donate them to places like children’s homes and hospitals,” said Galleria Mall sale organiser Shyanne Kanayee.
“An ever-increasing number of new patients register with us each month, and so we are always looking to new ways to raise funds,” she said.
“All of our warriors go through a registration process, which includes the submission of doctors’ letters specifying their cancer diagnosis.”
To volunteer at Galleria Mall or offer sponsorship, contact mall co-ordinators Shyanne Kanayee 0793437291; or Emmie Barnard on 0827707998.
Similar sales will be held nationwide and in KZN at Bluff Hillside Mall; Boardwalk Inkwazi Shopping Centre; Gateway Shopping Centre; Shelly Centre; Pavilion Shopping Centre; KwaDukuza Mall; Tiffany’s Mall; Cornubia Mall and Meerensee Mall.
For more information, including what is required to become a Cup Cake Angel, visit Cupcakesofhope.org/2023-list-of-mall-for-national-cupcake-day/.
The Independent on Saturday