Cape Town – When Blake Pittaway decided to buy animal food with the money he received for his 18th birthday almost two years ago, little did he know his initiative would go on to assist 11 animal shelters.
Pittaway, 20, from Melkbosstrand, created Project18 to buy food for an animal shelter in his area.
The initiative became his “baby”, he said, as he shopped around to find the best prices for good quality food.
Once he found a reliable supplier, he bought 245kg of food and delivered it to a local shelter, Fallen Angels.
“After speaking to the farm manager, we soon realised this donation was only going to last a day-and-a-half. There I was, thinking it was going to last for a while,” Pittaway said.
“That’s when I decided to keep going and raise funds to buy some more food.”
Pittaway later registered Project18 as an NPO.
It now assists 11 animal shelters with food around Cape Town.
“We set a goal of five tons of food, which was ambitious, and I didn’t think it would be possible. I still remember chatting to my dad about it and thinking he was insane. In just over a year-and-a-half, we achieved this goal. We were super excited,” he said.
“In a bid to stop families from surrendering their animals due to financial constraints from Covid-19, we have recently paired up with the Western Cape Covid Relief Fund as well as the SPCA to get food out to them.
“We recently donated one ton of food to the SPCA which they’re packaged into smaller bags and distributed to hundreds of families in Cape Town.
“All our merchandise comes from small local businesses. It costs a bit more per product than buying from a large company, but it supports our small family businesses, so it’s worth it,” he said.
For information about Project18, see www.Project18.org.za, or visit Facebook @ Project18za, Instagram Project18 and Twitter @Project18za