Lunchbox puts food on tables

FREE: NPO HAS DISTRIBUTED 140 0O0 FOOD PARCELS

But organisation needs more funds to be able to continue feeding the poor.

More than 140 000 food parcels have been distributed to vulnerable, food insecure, and disadvantaged communities across South Africa, made possible by The Lunchbox Fund.

Founded in 2005, the fund has partnered with schools and nonprofit organisations (NPO) to offer a daily varied school lunch; – created from a box of products sent monthly to ensure childcare, stimulation, and education are provided with the nutrition.

More than 30 000 primary and high schools in all nine provinces, have benefitted from this.

A few weeks into Covid-19 the

Lunchbox Fund launched an emergency programme. This was in light of the national lockdown, which forced schools to close.

The fund’s research and strategy director, Alison Misselhorn, said NPOs applied for food relief through the Lunchbox Fund to provide vulnerable communities with food parcels.

A reassessment and evaluation was done by the fund before accepting an organisation’s application, she said.

“Our food parcels cater for a family of four and would possibly last a month. We provide a rotating menu of nutritionally fortified foods that are delicious and familiar. Each food relief package provides a wide range of macroand micro-nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

“We include biryani, gravy mix, maize meal, peanut butter, porridge, rice, lentils, samp and beans, soya mince, vegetables, vitamilk and vitadrink.”

Misselhorn said the fund was providing food relief to 572 000 beneficiaries through its partnership with various NPOs. “We have 25 000 organisations across the country who are still waiting for food relief, and we solely depend on donations in the form of money to purchase the necessary food, which is packaged and distributed from our factory,” said Misselhorn. “This is then distributed through a logistics partner to the organisations, who then distribute it to the beneficiaries.”

She said their biggest donors include the Covid-19 Relief Fund, Hosken Consolidated Investments Foundation and eMedia Investments. “We welcome new donors to partner with us by visiting thelunchboxfund.org for more details.”

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We provide a menu of nutritionally fortified foods