With their Volkswagen (VW) vehicles lined up on the streets of Bothasig, marked with “Old School Dubz” stickers, you may think the scene reminiscent of The Fast and Furious spells trouble but the Old school Dubz Crew is here to spread good cheer.
The club, which started out with two friends who have a love for old school VW vehicles, has literally turned into a charity drive with its members combining their passion for cars with their desire to help out those in need.
“People with cars are usually interested in dogs. Guys with mean cars have mean dogs. Somehow it just connects, maybe it’s simply coincidence, but we all love animals so anyone who joins the clubs, joins the charity,” said club co-founder, Steven Barrows.
Mr Barrows and his friend, Ronaldo Frutuoso, decided to start the club after browsing Facebook and noticing the overwhelming request by individuals asking for assistance with food or pet-related items.
“I felt like something needed to be done to help these people, so I spoke to my boss about it and he said I should just go ahead. So I created the Facebook page and we have already received 90 likes so far,” said Mr Barrows.
The group now gets together once a month, finds an NGO that is in need, and puts their hands and wallets together to get the organisation the necessary help and supplies they need.
“We take out of our own pockets to buy goods for the animals, but a few animal stores have donated food. Last month we helped out the animal anti-cruelty organisation in Epping and this month we’re assisting the Koinonia Animal Shelter,” said Mr Barrows.
On Sunday May 29, the crew filled their vehicles with food, blankets, dog shampoo, treats, toys, and bottles of water and went to Koinonia to spent time with the animals in the shelter.
They bathed them and fixed the generator in the building which had packed up.
Dubz administration member, Toni Barrows, said that the founder of the organisation, André Verbiest, was struggling and had no water or electricity, but had so much love for the animals at his shelter that he would drive each day to collect water for them.
“The day turned out great. There was so much love to give to all the doggies … some people adopted dogs and one person adopted a cat,” said Ms Barrows.
The group will be collecting donations for their next charity drive and invites anyone to join and support the charity by donating dog food and supplies.
* To find out more about the group and their charity drives, you can view their Facebook under the oldschooldubzcrew timeline or contact Steven Barrows on 084 804 5254.