Tarsonians help Rudi smash his PinkDrive fundraising goal

On the 22nd of February, we held a very successful “Shave or Spray” event at the Tarsus Technology Group HQ to help Tarsus On Demand‘s Rudi Craps exceed his R12,000 fundraising goal for PinkDrive, a charity that drives breast cancer awareness.

Earlier this month, Rudi swam the Midmar Mile EIGHT TIMES for his charity, raising R2,000 on his own before he’d even hit the water.

A donation website was set up to help him reach or surpass his goal of raising R12,000 in total, and by the time those 13 kilometres were behind him, his running total was sitting at around the R11k mark.

The “Shave or Spray” event tipped him over the line.

A challenge

Rudi told us his swim was “a challenge” thanks to the choppiness of the water on the first day, but the second day was better as there was a strong headwind that propelled many swimmers – including Rudi – to their best Midmar Mile times ever.

He also emphasised to us just how important any athlete’s state of mind is, and how preparing for doing the Ironman race in Port Elizabeth on the 7th of April helped him get his head right for his 13km Midmar Mile swim.

Next year?

As for whether he’ll be doing the 8 Mile next year, that’s a very big yes from Rudi.

“Next year I will definitely do it again, and as a member of the PinkDrive 8 Mile club, I have first choice whether I want to participate again next year.

“However next year I will enter the challenge with much more confidence in the people and company around me with regards to raising enough for the goal, and also what to expect,” he says.

PinkDrive Goal Smashed

We’re tickled pink to say Rudi blew past his R12k goal on the 22nd, raising a total of R13,200 for PinkDrive. We couldn’t be more proud of him and everyone that came out to have their heads shaved or sprayed pink!

The day itself was very hot, both literally and figuratively, as the vape area at Tarsus HQ was bustling with enthusiastic supporters (and, eventually, lots of hair!).

Some chose to show their support by having their hair sprayed pink, others took the plunge and went for a full-on head shave, while the bravest among us did both!

Dare to be great

Some of the female staff members promised a very generous donation of R1000 if their male colleagues would shave their heads. And to their credit, the men did just that.

Kudos to Robin Lloyd, George Moss, Pieter van Schalkwyk, Chris Larkins, and Dean Matteucci for being such good sports!

Warehouse Support

Our warehouse staff, not to be outdone, joined in the fun and added a very impressive R1,530 to the fundraiser’s bottom line!

The Final Tally

By the time the day was done, Rudi and his fellow Tarsonians had raised more than R13,000 for PinkDrive.

That money will go towards helping PinkDrive spread its very important breast cancer awareness message of “Early detection can prolong a life”.

Closing words

“Having seen the results of smashing the goal of funds made me feel extremely grateful, in fact I could have never done it without the HR team here, and friends and family who cared to make an effort to support the good cause,” Rudi adds.

“It made me feel that even though it was not feat on the level of swimming around Madagascar or anything, it still brought people together and how much good a group of people could do. And that finally gave me hope, as I can see how ordinary people can stand together for a greater good.”

Very admirable indeed, and well done to Rudi and everyone who got involved!