Soup kitchens triple services to meet demand
GEORGE municipality soup kitchens served 17 170 meals from 133 homebased soup kitchens in vulnerable communities across the municipality last week.
Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said the municipal kitchens project has more than tripled its services in response to Covid-19, from one meal a day three times a week for mainly children and the elderly to two meals a day, seven days a week to as many people as possible.
“We are grateful for the ongoing food donations from individuals, businesses and NGOs and ask that donations continue so we can keep our soup kitchens open and running throughout the Covid-19 crisis period,” said Botha.
When lockdown started, some of the municipality’s usual 140 kitchens were initially closed because of concerns about the homeowners’ health, or being potentially vulnerable, but in most cases other healthy and less vulnerable people had since come in to serve in their place.
Today 133 soup kitchens are dishing out food and the remaining seven should be up and running within the next few days, Botha added.
There was at least one kitchen in every vulnerable area, five to 10 kitchens in larger communities, more than 20 in the greater Thembalethu area and nearly 30 in rural areas.
Most kitchens served two meals a day – pap at around 10am, and soup, noodles or another meal based on types of food available, at around 2pm.
All municipal kitchen “staff” had been trained in Covid-19 health protocols and supplied with hygiene packs and protective gear.
They had been issued with health permits, and physical distancing, hand-washing and other health and safety measures were implemented.
To find out the address of their nearest soup kitchen, residents can phone the George Municipality Community Development section during office hours at 044 802 2000.