Jared, Jillian and Jonathan Cohen

I always find it interesting how the different pieces in life fits together.

With TAGI having been granted PBO status came the requirement of our books needing to be audited once a year. So I wrote emails to several institutions to respectfully ask if they would consider sponsoring their services to us as we know realistically we cannot afford an auditor.

The rejection letters came in and many institutions didn’t even reply, but I persevered. Somewhere amidst the emails we accidentally contacted Jonathan Cohen from the Exceed Group in Johannesburg, having believed we contacted the Stellenbosch branch which is close to our home base. In spite of the distance, Jonathan was still willing to assist us.

Fortunately our world is digital now! Jonathan patiently taught me and Radie how to capture and manage our finances on the SAGE accounting software that SAGE donated to us. From there it was pretty smooth sailing. Phew! In no time we got the hang of it and so our first financial year end came round.

We unexpectedly received notifications through different platforms of financial donations coming in and although the references were different, they all had some form of “J Cohen” in common. Immediately I thought of Jonathan Cohen, but couldn’t place the connection. And then it happened; Sasha Hoon donated her wedding gown to us and through that interaction the most beautiful story emerged.

Jillian and Jonathan has a little boy called Jared and, at the time, his first birthday was coming up. They told their friends that instead of buying him gifts for his birthday, to rather put the money aside and donate it to TAGI… I was absolutely speechless and honoured. I already greatly appreciated that Jonathan is sponsoring us his time and expertise to help us with our books, but this completely blew my mind! All of our minds!

All-in-all TAGI received a sum of money that is going to make a huge difference for our 2019 operations! We would like to thank each and everyone that contributed to this fundraiser. We would also love to thank both Jillian and Jonathan for their beautiful initiative and sharing Jared’s first birthday in this way with us. Your generosity is going a long way in helping us assist the families we help.

A big shoutout and happy birthday from all of us at TAGI to the little man Jared on his first birthday!

Eric Elronde and the TAGI team.