When insurance professionals get together for a good cause, the result can only be a spectacular one!
Emerald Africa, in association with PureWild Fund, hosted their fourth annual fundraiser in August this year (with a two year “pause” due to Covid) at the Skukuza Golf Course, which is situated in the Kruger National Park. The ultimate beneficiary is the SANParks Airwing to assist them in their ongoing conservation efforts and more particularly with Rhino anti-poaching.
The event is most definitely one of a kind! All parties, who are in some way involved with the insurance and risk management of the Kruger National Park, all got together to donate and raise money to keep the helicopters in the air – the helicopters used to fight rhino and elephant poaching.
South African National Parks (SANParks) representatives gave every spectator a somewhat hard-hitting and eye-opening demonstration of the process of poachers being spotted in the National Park; to witnessing how the Rangers and tracker dogs get to work – this was incredibly educational, although a bit scary of what life holds for the Rangers. The children who attend the local preschool joined for the morning to watch their parents and family at work.
As it is unashamedly a fund-raising event, raffle tickets were sold, with the prize being a flip in the helicopter for four winners. The competition was real, a ride with David, the Chief Pilot for SANParks, is most definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity!
On the evening of the Prize Giving, there is more opportunity to raise funds by way of pledging a barrel of fuel (a helicopter needs two and a half barrels of fuel for each three-hour flight) or a pledge towards a tracker dog. Many of the golfers made pledges in their personal capacity or on behalf of their corporate.
We are delighted to announce that a total of R400 000 was donated directly to PureWild Fund, to keep those choppers in the air.
Article written by Emerald Risk Transfer
