School free of hungry bellies
THERE will be no hungry bellies at Good Hope Seminary Junior School thanks to a volunteer group called the Breakfast Club.
The Breakfast Club came to the rescue of the school to put a stop to children learning on empty stomachs.
The Breakfast Club – founded by Patsy Bagraim, Aletta Ashmore and Michael Bagraim with a group of volunteers – have been handing out breakfast at the school every morning at 6.30am for the past 18 months.
The pupils come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and often have to wake up at 4.30am and travel on public transport to school tired, floppy and hungry.
The feeding scheme manages to feed about 420 learners each morning before class.
Bagraim is part of the Shine Reading initiative, which assists pupils with English reading at the school.
“One of the kids that I taught couldn’t concentrate and I found out that they were starving,” she said.
She then saw the urgency to get to the bottom of the matter.
The club started feeding breakfast to 75 Grade 1 pupils and has now moved to feeding all the school’s learners.
Pupils are not only fed but acquire good hygiene habits, such as washing their hands before eating, and are also taught how to set up a table before eating.
The Breakfast Club receives donations and sponsorships from The Fair Cape Dairy Products, which provides milk; Sparkle Products, which provides dish washing liquid; and various supermarkets.
In addition, various items are donated to the club from parties who are willing to help. If anyone would like to assist they can contact aletta@goodstart.org. za; patsy@goodstart.org.za. Their banking details are: GOOD START TRUST, The Breakfast Club, A/C No: 421322017, Branch: 024109, Swift code: SBZA ZA JJ