For the last four months we have worked in a number of partnerships with other NGOs, individual volunteers, dozens of amazing people who have run “soup kitchens/e’Pap Cafes” and of course many generous donors who have provided the fuel to keep these partnerships going. For over four months our partners have delivered meals to those in need in George, Knysna and Plett.
In August we will be in transition as we move away from providing emergency “soup kitchen” style feeding back to providing nutritious breakfasts to pre-school children, served at some eighty pre-schools we support.
This is a good time pay tribute to all of the partners and donors and to let them know what they, as a team, have achieved during this period – a period of great need, great stress, but also great commitment and generosity of spirit.
To communicate the scale of the generosity of our donors, we have compared our expenditure on food for in the first eight months of last year to the food expenditure for the same period this year.
Last year, 2019, from Jan to Aug our food purchases were R 767,000.
This year the figure is R 2,398,000.
It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words, well this picture shouts words of gratitude to the amazing donors who have enabled us to deliver some half a million servings to the hungry. These partnerships have provided :
- 48,000 kilograms of e’Pap
- 800 vouchers/food parcels
- 106 kilograms of peanut-butter
- 180 kilograms of soya mince
It took a big team of people to deliver and serve this vast quantity of food and we want to raise our hats especially high to those ladies and gentlemen who, day after day, prepared large bowls of e’Pap and served hundreds and hundreds of hungry souls. We are aware of the how tiring it was to do this for such an extended period. We are aware that this put you at risk. You put your community above yourself and remained dedicated and kept going. Thank you one and all.
We have three storage depots in operation – one in Plett, one in George and one in Knysna. Distribution partners regularly collected stock from the store rooms and delivered them to the “Soup Kitchens”. Without these vital links nothing would have been accomplished. Shelley Godsell, Liz van Niekerk, Talitha Steenkamp and Francesca Engelbrecht provided the overall coordination of the distribution in the three towns where we serve.
In addition we have been able to support some eighty teachers at schools whose only income is the fees from the parents. Because the schools were closed these ladies had no income at all. A team of our volunteers faithfully ensured that each of these teachers received a food voucher every ten days for the last four months. This ensured that there was food on the table. Magnificent job – thank you to Nicky & Jon, Carol & Theo, Rose & Annie.
Finally, we are not stopping our work. Rather we are transitioning back to a focus on feeding through our network of pre-schools. Many are not government schools and they are permitted to reopen once they can demonstrate that they have the equipment and procedures in place to open in a safe manner. Some have already opened and others will do so over the next few weeks. During this period and beyond we are going to continue to need our partners – donors, distributors and those who prepare and serve the “daily bread”.
Our sincere gratitude for all you have done. You are still needed – please stick with us.
Shelley & Peter Godsell
To see some of our partners in Plett, Knysna and George, please click on the three recent posts.