The “Cape Doctor” (aka the south-easter) that whips its way around the Cape Peninsula September to March had nothing on the love doctor that swept through Cape Town this March when Lunch Buddies and Rama teamed up to “spread the love” among school children across the city.
The Spread the Love campaign saw Lunch Buddies – FoodBank South Africa’s school feeding programme – and Rama rope in children from affluent schools to take part in fun-filled “sandwich jams” to make sandwiches for children at less affluent schools.
About 560 learners from Settlers High School, Rustenburg Junior School and Cape Academy used hundreds of loaves of bread bought by FoodBank, tubs of Rama and jars of jam and other sandwich spreads to make 5,670 sandwiches. The sandwiches were distributed by FoodBank to learners at Storemont Primary, Bardale Primary, and Heinz Park Primary.
Jamming alongside the kids making sandwiches was GoodHope FM’s popular DJ Suga, whose show was broadcast live from school halls, which were temporarily transformed into rocking kitchens. Donning chefs hats, t-shirts, aprons and plastic gloves, all sponsored by Rama, learners had a ball getting involved in helping to feed children less privileged than themselves.
For many of the 1200 children fed by Lunch Buddies each day, the lunch they receive is their only meal of the day.
The Spread the Love campaign culminated in an Easter event at Vangate Mall in Athlone, where 30,000 hot-cross buns bought by Rama – smothered in Rama spread for bread – were handed out to appreciative shoppers. Branded goodie bags containing a tub of Rama spread for bread, a loaf of bread bought by Rama and a Rama growth chart were also given out at the malls and in surrounding areas, compliments of Rama vans. Rama gave away a total of 50,628 tubs (of both 500g and 1kg) of Rama spread for bread.
Apart from generating excitement in the community, the event had a lasting impact on the media. Not only are GoodHope FM’s DJs occasionally heard on air raving about the work of Lunch Buddies and Rama, they subsequently organised a stationery drive, calling on their listeners to donate much-needed stationery to children at under-resourced schools.
GoodHope FM’s Guy McDonald has become a passionate FoodBank SA supporter: “The folks at FoodBank genuinely care about the future of our country and are determined to make a difference. They’re humbly getting on with the job of eliminating hunger. I think Lunch Buddies is a brilliant programme! The Spread the Love campaign gave me a good opportunity to interact with my listeners – and I was in my element dressing up in an apron etc.”
Roxy MacNaughton, the national programmes coordinator for FoodBank SA, says the campaign was a huge success. “It really demonstrated to everyone involved what it looks like when we work together to ‘spread the love’: when everyone does or gives what they can, making a difference is easy – and fun! We believe the campaign had a profound effect on everyone, especially the children who made the sandwiches. The Lunch Buddies programme depends on the generosity of children at donor schools. The more schools we sign up as donor schools, the more children we can feed.”
Rustenburg Junior School has been participating in the Lunch Buddies programme since 2003. Headmistress Di Berry says the school decided to support Lunch Buddies to raise awareness about the plight of children at less privileged schools. “Pupils are encouraged to be actively responsible for the making of the sandwiches, understanding that this may be the one and only meal the recipient child would receive in a day.”
Di says that over the years competitions have been organized between classes to incentivizing pupils. The class that brings the most sandwiches is rewarded with the right to wear civvies.
Stormont Primary School has been receiving sandwiches from Lunch Buddies for more than a year. Principal Nosipho Matabata says teachers have noticed a marked difference in the performance of learners.
“I have witnessed so much change in the learners. Their attendance has improved so much. The teachers are impressed with the learners’ achievements in class, ever since they started receiving the sandwiches they concentrate better in class. It has been a great help with our extra mural activities, too. Learners are now participating because they now know that they won’t go hungry if they stay at school until 5 o’clock. As a result the school has won several cups in the Choirs Competitions. I am so proud of them and very thankful to FoodBank for their support.”
To find out how you can support Lunch Buddies, please call Roxy MacNaughton on +27 (0)21-685-0484 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
