Ten-year-old angel raises funds for shelter

When 10-year-old Liam Meyersfeld wanted to find a way to help his favourite animal shelter, nothing was going to get in his way. So he raised R14 000 for Fallen Angels Pet Rescue Farm in Melkbosstrand, an hour and a half from Cape Town.

“Liam’s on the Autism spectrum, although he’s very high functioning, but when he gets his mind set on something, very little can stop him,” Liam’s father, Dr Nick Meyersfeld, told the SA Jewish Report this week.

“I wanted to do a raffle for Fallen Angels through my school, but I couldn’t because it already had an idea for a raffle this term. So I went to my mom, and she has an Instagram page called The Mom Club which has more than 40 000 followers. I thought, ‘Why not do the raffle anyway on my own and with the help of my mom’s page to raise money for the dog shelter.’”

Liam independently managed to get the raffle prizes sponsored by Camp Canoe in Franschhoek, Truworths, and Exclusive Books. The prizes were an iPhone; a night stay for two at Camp Canoe in Boschendal; a R1 500 Truworths voucher; and a voucher for six people to go kayaking with Atlantic Outlook.

“I just called everybody I knew, and asked them to advertise. Every ticket cost only R10, and I sold 1 400 of them,” said Liam.

“I advertised the raffle on my mom’s Instagram page, and my dad, a doctor, advertised it at work,” Liam said. “My brother advertised at his school, I advertised at my school, and my dad called everyone he knew.”

“Liam contacted all of my and my wife’s colleagues and friends, used social media, and stood for hours on end on the promenade selling tickets,” Meyersfeld said.

“I love dogs, and I just want to help as many of them as I can. Fallen Angels is an amazing animal-rescue organisation. Not many people know about it, so I just really wanted to do something amazing for it,” Liam said.

Fallen Angels’ mission is to save and improve the living conditions of animals in their immediate surroundings while maintaining their rehabilitation. This may involve re-homing animals who are unwanted, unloved, or lost – mostly focusing on township animals, but not limited to them. The farm believes that the rehabilitation of animals ultimately involves children, which is therapy for children and animals.

Any animal that is forgotten, abandoned, abused, lost, lonely, emaciated, and neglected is considered to be a Fallen Angel, and therefore part of the focus area of the organisation.

Through animal therapy, the farm aims to assist in healing the broken souls of any animal it is financially able to assist.

“I can’t wait to go to Fallen Angels to give them the money,” Liam said.

He plans to do a raffle to raise money for Fallen Angels Pet Rescue Farm in the future, and hopes to adopt a dog from the shelter one day.