After six months of responding to the need in KZN, we have taken the hard decision to scale down our relief efforts. This comes as we reach the end of the funding cycle from various donors. The enormous support we received enabled us to distribute nearly 500 tons of food. One such donor is the Solidarity Fund. On 1 June 2022, the Solidarity Fund donated R5mn towards our relief efforts. Their funding sustained our efforts for three months and along with funding received from other generous donors allowed us to provide warm cooked meals to more than 5000 displaced people living in 30 community halls.
As a gesture of gratitude towards the real food heroes, our Beneficiary Organisations, who have been cooking tirelessly to ensure 5000 people were fed every day, we held an appreciation ceremony.
Five months ago, ten of our BO’s selflessly agreed to take on the task of cooking and serving warm meals at the various community halls seven days a week. To acknowledge their commitment to the cause, a ceremony was held at our warehouse in Pinetown, where each BO was gifted with a set of pots, a certificate of appreciation, and gifts donated by Proctor and Gamble.
As a result of the funding nearing an end coupled with homes being rebuilt and people moving out, the difficult decision was taken to reduce the number of halls we are serving from 27 to 7. We will continue serving warm meals at seven of the halls sheltering larger amounts of people as well as two schools for the coming months in the hope that homes will be rebuilt. Seven of our beneficiary organizations will continue cooking and serving these meals five days a week.