For the children of Bambisandle Primary School in KwaMashu, Mandela Day today will be an especially memorable one – and not because they are among the 12.4 million school children singing Happy Birthday to South Africa’s most beloved son.
Today the learners of this impoverished school will be treated as if today was their birthday. First they will be served a meal fit for Madiba himself. And then each child will be presented with a gift of much-needed groceries to take home to their families.
This is all thanks to the staff of FoodBank South Africa and I Care, two local leading non-profit organisations, who have given more than 67 minutes of their time to source, prepare and serve food to the children of this school in honour of Nelson Mandela.
Volunteers and teachers will help cook and serve the food, which has been donated by wholesalers and retailers, including Boxer Superstore and Pick n Pay, respectively.
Yesterday 13 staff members of I Care and FoodBank South Africa’s Durban branch spent much of the day at FoodBank’s warehouse in Briardene peeling and chopping vast quantities of potatoes, carrots and cabbage for a chicken curry to feed about 1,000 children.
About 155 kilograms of food will be used to make the meal, including 50kg of chicken, 30kg rice, 30kg of butternut, 18kg of cabbage, 10kg of potatoes, 10kg of beans, 6kg of carrots and an onion and green pepper mix.
Today the team will descend upon the school – which is between KwaMashu’s M section and the Ntuzuma informal settlement – to cook and serve the food to the school’s 700 learners.
The grocery hampers that the children will be given each contain: rice, cereal and sugar; bath soap and body lotion; and a bottle dish washing liquid detergent.
Issued by FoodBank South Africa and I Care
