CAPE TOWN -
A South African Minecraft gamer called Rendog and his friend Grian collaborated with SOS Africa - a UK-based
child sponsorship organisation
- to raise R2 million rand to help feed hungry communities in Cape Town.
Rendog, who is originally from Bloemfontein but currently based in the UK, used his 463 000 YouTube subscribers and 84 600 Twitch following to raise funds with his fellow gamer through a live stream event.
Over 700 000 people tuned in to watch the stream and the donations came pouring in.
Due to the unbelievable generosity of thousands of people from all over the world tonight, we raised over £75000 for @SOS_Africa during our charity stream with Grian. To put it into perspective, thats over 300000 hot meals for South Africans in desperate need. THANK YOU ALL! RD pic.twitter.com/1wJE4V8IYD
— ReNDoG 🏳️🌈 #AllyForLife (@renthedog) May 10, 2020
“We had absolutely no idea we would receive this response. The funds raised will feed many thousands over the coming months.
"All the funds will be invested in emergency food packages and hot meals in the Western Cape
,” said Matt Crowcombe, founder of SOS Africa.
"We were all completely overwhelmed with emotion. Our staff in South Africa were following the event and were constantly in floods of tears."
"The incredible amount of funds donated is not only a demonstration of the generosity of the sponsors but also a reflection of Rendog and Grian as people; kind, generous and hugely popular," he said.
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