Johannesburg, December 2023 – The Hot Cares Christmas with HOT 102.7FM is all about changing lives and providing some festive season relief for individuals who have fallen on hard times, and that’s exactly how the 2023 version of this fantastic initiative played out in early-December.

Over the course of nine days, HOT 102.7FM’s four daytime shows – from the HOT 1027 Breakfast through to The Big Joburg Drive – conducted emotional on-air executions that saw worthy recipients live on air, with the good news broken to them and floods of tears all round, both in studio and on the ground.

A total of 36 stories told and 36 lives changed, and the stories themselves were heart-breaking.

For example, a 10-year-old boy who has lost both eyes to cancer and needs a specialised braille device; a double-amputee who does great work in the community, but needs a second prosthesis to get himself back on his tractor; a disabled woman carried around by her aging father and who needs a portable hydraulic lift; a puppy who was thrown out of a moving car and needs vital surgery; a young lady who was forced to give up her studies after being paralysed by a stray bullet; a young woman who tried to take her own life and just needs the cost of her medication covered; a diabetic man with a host of health issues who needs a kidney transplant; a cancer-sufferer and mother of an autistic child; an inspiring disabled man and the dedicated neighbour who gets him to work every day; a young girl suffering from debilitating tonsilitis; a promising PHD student just looking to have his transport costs covered; a para-athlete looking for the wheels with which to live out his dreams; and a 21-year-old who lost her mother to cancer and is now caring for her two younger siblings.

All incredibly worthy recipients, who will now go into Christmas with just a little more love and light in their hearts, with some of their burden eased.

“This really was another example of the power of Hot 102.7FM radio and how we’re in a privileged position to use our platform to do some good,” says Lloyd Madurai, Managing Director of HOT 102.7FM. “To see our presenters in tears and to receive so many voice notes from listeners, telling us how we had touched their lives, was just hugely rewarding, and that’s what makes the Hot Cares Christmas so special.”

A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into making the Hot Cares Christmas the sustainable and effective initiative it is.

“It all starts with our annual Teddython fundraiser, which this year saw us raise an incredible R19.4m from corporates and individuals and gave us the means with which to help these people,” says Madurai. “We then put the word out to the HOT 102.7FM audience, asking for listeners to nominate individuals they felt that could do with some Christmas cheer, in the form of some relief.”

That led to a flood of emails, with Hot Cares blown away by the generosity of the HOT 102.7FM audience, with so many tales of people looking to help change the lives of those in need.

The Hot Cares Christmas is just one of the registered non-profit company’s many initiatives.

Hot Cares has Public Benefit Organisation status and strives to make a meaningful difference to the lives of those around it. It dedicates its efforts to providing much-needed assistance to those who find themselves in difficult circumstances, with a focus on four key areas: humanitarian and welfare, medical, educational, and animal welfare.