Cape Town – Voice SA season 2 winner Craig Lucas will swop his microphone for a boat when he sails an Optimist (children’s dinghy) in the Great Optimist Race at the V&A Waterfront tomorrow.
His mission is to raise funds and awareness for charity.
Lucas is an ambassador for The Justice Desk and is so passionate about the work the organisation does that he put aside any apprehensions he had about learning to sail and climbed on board.
“A lot of people come to me and ask me for assistance with charity organisations but you always feel after you’ve done something (you're) not really making a long-term impact,’’ he said.
“I heard about the Justice Desk through them contacting my mom and they are not a charity organisation as much as they are a human rights organisation. They go into underprivileged communities and teach them about human rights.
“They’ve done incredible things. For example, they’ve gone to a school where human trafficking was a bad problem. They taught the kids how to prevent it and actually stopped two girls from being taken within a year.
"The school kids themselves did that. And that’s what they do, they empower communities.”
The organisation also teaches boxing to girls that have been raped and abused. “They get them in every Saturday and give them a boxing class.
"I attended one where they showed me a girl who was new and the girls who have been there for months and the difference in their confidence was amazing.
"The new girl was so sad and quiet and her self-esteem had been destroyed.
"But the other girls were helping her. It’s incredible and they are going to make a big difference and I’m just really happy to be a part of it.”
The Great Optimist Race, which starts at the Cape Town International Boat Show, involves 40 celebrities, corporates, charities and medical survivors navigating the V&A Waterfront harbour waters in Optimists.
The participants will compete in the race to raise the most money for their chosen charity and the Little Optimist Trust.
The Cape Town International Boat show runs from today until Sunday.
To support Lucas on his quest, search “Great Optimist Race” on www.backabuddy.co.za or visit the link https://www.backabuddy.co.za/charity/profile/the-great-optimist-race