Rising to the occasion to still hunger
Six hundred volunteers donned hairnets and gloves and packed 92 700 meals which will feed 2 000 children in Buffalo City crèches for a year at the Rise Against Hunger food packing event at Hemingways Mall on Saturday.
The upbeat occasion in which teams of corporates – including the Daily Dispatch, as well as NGOs and the University of Fort Hare – lined tables and packed rice, soya, vegetable soup mix and a vitamin sachet into bags, is replicated in cities all over South Africa, as well as the US, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and Italy.
Rise Against Hunger is based in the US where it was founded in 1998.
Each session lasted 67 minutes in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s birthday on July 18.
“We donate these meals to early childhood development [ECD] centres and some will also go to University of Fort Hare students, especially those who arrive at university from rural areas and wait for NSFAS to come through,” said Rise Against Hunger Eastern Cape development manager Thomas Gulston.
He said each meal pack feeds up to 10 children per day.
“We distribute the meals, show staff how to cook them and monitor that this is done. We are largely dependent on corporates to pay for the raw ingredients and on volunteers to pack them.”
He said the hunger relief organisation aimed to end world hunger by 2030 in the #2030ispossible initiative.
Hemingways Mall marketing manager Estee Roos said this was the third year the mall had hosted the event.
“We all know the Eastern Cape has one of the greatest needs and after we hosted the first Rise Against Hunger event, we were so impressed by the commitment of the community that we decided to make Hemingways Mall the head office of the Eastern Cape. From last year, they have been here permanently which means ongoing food relief for our area.”
Volunteer and former Clarendon High School principal Owen Nel, who was part of the Small Projects Foundation team with his wife, Michele, said it had been great fun to pack meals.
“It is wonderful to be able to support an operation like this.”