Local businessman Tubs Lingham is abstaining from food for 10 days to raise money for vulnerable communities in the city.
Inspired by the ethos of resilience captured in Mandela Day, the Pot O’Curry owner started his 10-day water fast challenge on Monday that has since seen him abstain from food and only drinking water.
Lingham plans to match any donation up to the value of R67,000.
The beneficiaries are Link FM, Helping Those In Need and Logan’s Smile.
“I needed to do something for my health and family were encouraging me to do the fast, so I thought why not do it for Mandela Day.
“In that way my fasting could both make an impact on our local community and not just on myself,” Lingham said.
As a person living with diabetes, Lingham had a few health concerns before starting on this mission.
Thankfully, he received the go ahead from his doctor, who will be on standby throughout the challenge.
He plans on having special salts and electrolyte supplements added to his water to ensure he gets enough hydration during this time.
“Some of the challenges I feel will be trying to still run Pot O’Curry with all the temptations right in front of me. I’ll stay motivated by the mere fact that my success will ensure many lives will be changed and a lot of money will go to charities who are in dire straits now.
“So, I have no choice but to succeed — not only for my health but also to ensure that some of these NPOs can continue to do the work they do daily,” Lingham said.
“I chose to match the R67,000 in the spirit of Mandela Day, where we are encouraged to spend 67 minutes of our time assisting others. I hope that people can see the effort that it takes to do a challenge like this and hope they can participate in any way, even if they donate R67 or to fast for a day in support.
“It would be great if other people suffering from health problems could also investigate the benefits of fasting and hopefully, in some way, this can help them as well,” he said.
Helping Those In Need co-founder Matthew Peake said Lingham had been donating food to the organisation and they were grateful.
“We share the donations between nine feeding projects, thus feeding around 2,500 to 3,500 children, elderly and adults weekly. Tubs is such a vital and valuable part of our organisation. The water fast is a fantastic initiative, where Tubs will put his body on the line for the greater good,” Peake said.
Lingham will be using an app to monitor the fast and will also be posting daily progress updates on his Facebook page. So far, Lingham has made about R10,000 — R8,000 in cash donations and R2,000 in pledges.
