Give them their daily bread Share a meal, symbolically, with the homeless, writes Nabeelah Shaikh
Vusi Dube, 25, has spent most of his life on the streets. Here he enjoys a meal at the Denis Hurley Centre. Dube is one of the “poster boys” of the Social Meal Project.
The insert profiles a homeless person and invites customers to symbolically share a meal with him or her.
This doesn’t mean patrons literally sit down and share a meal with the homeless person but they can contribute towards the cost of a meal.
The public can make a donation while paying their bill in different ways. This includes donating using a QR code, via SMS, or by asking the waiter to add the amount to their bill.
“An estimated 1.4 million holidaymakers come to Durban in the summer to have fun. We want to give them a chance to share the fun with the less fortunate homeless people of Durban. Revellers are estimated to spend over R3.1 billion during the holiday season – it costs the Denis Hurley Centre one thousandth of that to provide its services to the homeless, refugees and poor of inner-city Durban for a whole year,” said the centre’s Raymond Perrier.
The centre welcomes 300 people through its doors each day and it costs about R15 to provide breakfast, a hot shower and clean clothes for one person.
It is a legacy project honouring Archbishop Denis Hurley OMI, who was bishop and archbishop of this city from 1947 to 1992. He played a significant role in opposing apartheid and promoting the vision of just a society.
In serving the poorest and most marginalised citizens of Durban, the Denis Hurley Centre lives out Archbishop Hurley’s dream that the church should be a “community serving humanity”.
It now provides an enabling environment for care, education and community building in one of the most diverse and challenging neighbourhoods of downtown Durban, close to the busiest road and rail transport hub.
“We believe that nobody should go to bed hungry so we are asking for people to open their hearts and to pledge at least R15 so we can feed as many people as possible. We are running this project during the festive season because this time is all about giving.
“Hopefully, the money raised will be sufficient to carry us through the rest of the year ahead,” said Perrier.
On the Day of Reconciliation (December 16), the project will be open to the public to literally “share a meal” with a homeless person.
“Last year’s inaugural Meal of Reconciliation was a success. This year, we expect to have about 400 people sitting down together to share a meal: homeless and non-homeless, black, white and brown; Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Jewish; South African and foreign nationals; able-bodied and disabled; old and young,” said Perrier.
“Join us for the meal and meet fellow citizens of Durban. Bring with you cooldrinks or dessert, enough to share with at least three others. No need to book, just show up.”
For more information about the list of participating restaurants visit www. denishurleycentre.org