Instead of celebrating his 40th birthday with a fancy bash like he had planned, renowned saxophonist Don Vino Prins spent the day feeding 500 kids in his community of Elsies River.
Don and his wife Ronel, 36, had planned to have his milestone celebration at a larney mansion in Cape Town, but due to lockdown restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the couple needed a plan-B and opted to feed hungry kids instead.
Ronelle says they are still planning to hold Don’s party after lockdown ends.
“Before the lockdown, we planned to host a mansion cocktail party with close friends and celebrities, it was gonna be big, but what actually happened on his birthday was so amazing, it was a true blessing,” she says.
BLESSING: Don hands out food
Don and Ronel decided to give back to the community they grew up in, Clarke Estate.
Don also had an online show on the same day, to raise funds for his band.
“We decided to give back to the community and also do an online event for the band, who wasn’t working since March,” says Ronel.
“We got Siyazana who came on board and donated 500 hot meals for the kids.
“We bought 300 loaves of breads with the meals and 300 kiddies masks, and we went to give it to the hungry kids.
“We also linked up with the Inspired Network, who set up the kids to wait for us to hand out the food and Don played songs for the kids on his saxophone.”
Don says they hope to do this kind of thing more often: “Whatever donations we get in, we will use a portion to assist these organisations who are feeding communities every day.
“We aren’t too disappointed that we couldn’t do the party, we found that there are bigger blessings that came out of being able to feed these kids.
“We are happy to be able to share this moment together.“I wanted a lot of my friends to be at my planned party, but there are many more birthdays and chances to celebrate.”The kids enjoyed a plate of lekker akhni and sweet treats and sang happy birthday to Don.
venecia.america@inl.co.za