When it comes to people in need, the Cape car crews have a long record of being willing and able to respond.
And, it seems, that torch is being passed onto the younger generation.
In fact, when Bobby Nitro discovered that the organiser of this particular outreach was just 16 (turning 17, he says), Bobby was pretty chuffed.
Tariq Paulse of Cape Town Stance says: “With Covid, there are plenty of people struggling to get the next paycheck, and others who have even bigger problems, and where there’s a need I have this almost uncontrollable urge to help out.”
So when he heard about two houses and three Wendys that had burned down in Steenberg, he made contact and asked what was needed.
He says: “We did it differently this time. Instead of just collecting things, we decided on a more targeted approach.”
Tariq, who is in matric this year at Pelican Park High School, says: “We planned on getting five clubs together, using our resources and connections to collect non-perishables, baby stuff, curtains, bedding, clothing and even some furniture.”
Meeting at Shoprite in Pelican Park, the convoy collected more cars on the way and arrived in Steenberg with 40 vehicles.
Tariq says: “We entered Sullivan Street, it was so narrow we could hardly park them all.
“The families we gave the donations to were very grateful.
“They kept on thanking me, which makes me uncomfortable because this is a group effort.”
Tariq says his highlight of the day was seeing a Tazz on air coming down the road so low the mudguards were scraping, as well as German Freaks stieking uit with 14 cars.
Bobby asked Tariq what he thought other people’s impressions of car club initiatives were.
He says: “I think that some people think ‘what are the clubs getting out of the initiatives’, which is unfortunate.
“We do this to give back.”
He added that the weird thing is people see gedropte karre and think they are reckless, but he says: “That’s so far from the truth, we are careful because we don’t want to break the parts we’ve saved up to buy.”
Cape Town Stance is planning another run this weekend, after hearing of a mom and son whose home burned down in Delft.
Much was lost, including the son’s school uniform and books.
They are even planning to collect building materials.
If you’d like to get involved, DM Tariq on his Cape town Stance Facebook page.
To end, Bobby thinks it’s a good sign that the younger generation understand that all lives are better when we help one another are are responding to this call too.