Fruitful mission
Novel concept feeds children
FEEDING underprivileged children has become a passion for former New Zealand basketball player Benjamin Constable, who now lives in Durban.
Last year he launched the unique FreshBox initiative, which has grown rapidly and provides fresh fruit to more than 400 pupils in Durban. But Constable had to come up with a plan to raise additional cash to expand the business.
The FreshBox concept works like this: a customer buys a box of fresh fruit – for less than the cost at retail outlets – which also covers the cost for the same box of fruit for a child in need.
Although Constable completed a first-class Honours degree in physics, with some of his thesis being completed at Nasa, he has turned to art to fund his business expansion.
“I’m also a student of history and have travelled to Sri Lanka, Paris and England, where I found I was getting more and more interested in art. There are certain things you cannot express in formulas or words, but you can in art.
“The business has grown so much in a year that we need to buy more fruit boxes, as well as upgrade our vehicle. So to raise funds to extend our plan, we are holding an exhibition to sell my art,” he said.
Constable has spent the past six months creating more than 100 pieces that he described as “abstract expressionist” in which he has combined four different abstract art forms – Hans Hofmann squares, splashes from Jackson Pollock, pointillism of Paul Signac and the swirls of Vincent van Gogh.
Also reflected within the four art forms is the exhibition theme A Tale of Four Cities, which portrays Constable’s fascination with the four major cultures making up Durban. “When you come to South Africa, the level of diversity strikes you. There is obviously a reference to Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, but this is about Durban and the city’s four cultures “It’s about mixing up these styles and putting them together to create something beautiful,” he said.
Constable signature box figures dominate his art pieces, which tie in with the metaphorical being “put in a box”, as well as “thinking out of the box” and, of course, the FreshBox project.
His unique fresh fruit feeding scheme, implemented with Durban businessman Colin Francke, turned the traditional model of fund-raising on its head with a common profit goal.
This is being seen as the future of business which encourages a sense of caring among a community.
The customer can subscribe for a box of fresh fruit packed to that specific customer’s taste from the choice of seasonal fruits; the box is delivered weekly to a collection point and a second box is delivered to an underprivileged child.
“We are delivering 500kg of fruit a week and are also looking to partner with an NGO that already has an established nutritional eco-system,” said Constable.
Despite South Africa being a “food secure” nation, there are many children who suffer from malnutrition and, according to a World Bank estimate, 55% of children belong to households living under the ultra-poverty line of R800 or less a month. This amounts to an estimated 10 million children in the country which has also been ranked as having one of the highest levels of inequality in the world.
A Tale of Four Cities’ exhibition will be held on September 7 at Studio 031, Station Drive Precinct, from 5pm until late.
For more information, go to website benjaminconstable.com