Volunteers from a Scottsdene housing complex are on a mission to feed more than 400 people including children and the elderly, daily.
On Thursday May 21 more than 80 children lined up at the hall at Geneva Court to receive a bowl of maize meal porridge from the Geneva Court Community Forum members. The same group had another meal later that afternoon.
Feeding scheme organiser Fazlin Pertersen-Solomon said the breakfast and lunch she and the team cooked was the only meal some of the children had for the day. Many Geneva Court families, she added, were unemployed and lived off social grants but were too shy to stand in the line for food so they had their bowls delivered to their doors.
Ms Pertersen-Solomon said the idea for the project had come to her as her own food supplies had dwindled. She had complained to a neighbour about having nothing to eat only discover that the neighbour was in the same situation.
“I had rice and potatoes but she had chicken, and we decided to make a pot of food. Then we thought if everyone in the flat brings what they have we could feed more mouths.”
Funds come from the forum’s savings and donations from other people in the community. Ms Pertersen-Solomon said there was never a day when the children go hungry.
“We depend on donations and our savings but we prioritise the children before anyone else here. They are growing and need the nutrients.”
The children had been taught to sanitise and wash their hands and practise physical distancing while waiting in line and also to say “please and thank you”.
Ms Pertersen-Solomon has to make do with using two 10-litre pots to cook for 400 people and she asks people to “toss their old pots” her way, along with any food donations they would be prepared to make. Call her at 084 899 1373 if you can help.