By now you will definitely have heard of the NekNominate craze that has been happening on social media.
How it works is that it’s essentially a drinking game. You take a video of yourself downing a beer and then you nominate someone else to continue the game, daring them to be more extreme. People have been making the news with the outrageousness of their drinking shenanigans, with some mixing harmful substances together, swallowing fish, drinking while skateboarding through traffic and various other dangerous stunts that have even resulted in death.
Shake It Up
But anything can be given a positive readjustment and that’s exactly what some people have been doing. South African Brent Lindeque decided that instead of downing a drink when tagged in the NekNominate game, a much better idea was to help the poor. This includes giving people food at traffic lights. On his Twitter page, Brent wrote, “Downing a beer is easy, imagine doing something to make a difference.”
Good Business
Other people making waves include Robbie Ragless from Cape Town who went to Nando’s with his friend and business partner, Yakeen Sadiq, and they bought lunches for 90 children at a local school. They then nominated Nando’s to do something good. Awesomely, Nando’s responded by saying they accepted the NekNomination. Nando’s visited the Sithandiwe Disabled Care Centre in Alexandra township and completely renovated their kitchen and dining room. Nice work!
They are not the only ones. Many South African businesses have been putting a positive force behind NekNomination. KFC wrote a cheque for R25 000 to its in-house charity, while First National Bank has donated musical equipment, toys, colouring books, stationary, swimming equipment and computers to the Dlala Nje Cultural Community Centre in Hillbrow, which was established as a safe and nurturing place for children in the community.
Get In On the Action!
It is something you can do, too. Think about starting your own NekNomination to do something good for someone else. This could extend to service in your neighbourhood, donating goods or money to the poor, or giving your time to commit good deeds. Be daring and do something outrageous that is kind, and then nominate your friends to do the same thing. See how much more powerful a good deed can be than a good beer.
