The 'Celebrate 150' fundraising telethon hosted by Suncoast Casino & Entertainment World in partnership with Lotus FM on Thursday 25 November managed to rake in a total of R162 000 in pledges. The funds will be used to provide computers to 10 disadvantaged schools from Durban communities in the new year.

A number of well-known personalities volunteered their time to man the pledge lines, taking calls from hundreds of supportive locals and businesses throughout the day.

Those who took time out of their busy schedules to support this worthy cause included Deputy Mayor of Durban, Councillor Logie Naidoo; Head: International and Governance Relations, Eric Apelgren, comedians Afzal Khan and Mervyn Pillay, singers Jae and Natalie Rungan, magician Mo Magic, budding Eastern Mosaic presenter Yusuf Moolla; esteemed academic Kiru Naidoo; businessman Triveshan Naidoo, as well as a number of Lotus FM jocks.

Those who dug deep into their pockets on the day included pledges of R25,000 from Leo Chetty, chairman of Educor, the holding company for Damelin, INTEC and other private colleges.

Chetty said a call from the deputy mayor had encouraged his company to support this worthy initiative, especially because of the campaign's focus on education, which was close to Educor's heart.

Pledges of R10,000 each were received from Dinesh Naidoo from Serendipity Tours, a Suren Maniram, a Mr Pillay of Cyber Trade and Niren Ramharakh of GDS Solutions.

Tour operator Naidoo said, "Being a successful businessman and seeing what our forefathers have achieved in terms of education, I thought this was a great opportunity to give back to the community and support computer literacy for our youngsters."

Thirty used PCs were also donated by Jay Ramdlall of PC Training while Phaty Chetty of Futel Corp pledged free computer training for the winning schools.

The Celebrate 150 telethon was an element of SUNCOAST's festivities to mark the 150 year anniversary celebrations of Indians in South Africa.

Lotus FM broadcast live from the event between 07h00 and 12h00 to drive public support and keep the funds rolling in.

For further details log onto: www.suncoastcasino.co.za

Ends
Captions
021 - Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo, political cartoonist Nanda Soobben and comedian Afzal Khan man the pledge lines
070 - comedian Mervyn Pillay, journalist and Eastern Mosaic presenter Yusuf Moolla and the musical duo Fresh Money
063 - magician Mo Magic, comedian Afzal Khan, journalist and Eastern Mosaic presenter Yusuf Moolla
104 - Pauline Sangham of Lotus FM, musician Natalie Rungan and Abigail Nadar of Lotus FM


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