Newsletter June 2020

And this claim is not anecdotal.

Since the start of the lockdown, survey after survey has reported increases in hunger.

For example, according to a University of Johannesburg/ Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) survey, 34% of the people surveyed between 18 to 27 April reported that they had gone to bed hungry (up by 6% from an earlier survey).”

– Malnutrition, health services and democracy : The responsibility to speak out” Mark Heywood, 26 May 2020, The Daily Maverick

The issue of acute malnutrition, access to sufficient food, hunger and its impact on health and inequality, discussed in this article, with it’s sobering statistics on food insecurity in our country, is what we see on a daily basis at our centre. Arriving to work in the mornings to crowds of people at our gate who are desperate to get food for themselves and their families is evidence of the urgent and mounting pressure to provide food to many more people.

So to you, Love to Give supporter, donor or sponsor, firstly, a sincere thank you for your response to the Covid-19 hunger crisis. Thanks to your generosity, we have been able to focus solely on providing food to families whose income has been devasted by the lockdown.

You have donated thermometers, soap, sanitizers, masks, fresh fruit and vegetables, 220 Spar food parcels, 300 Tiger Brands food parcels, fresh eggs, tinned pilchards, bread, Rama, peanut butter, 1000 Wonderbags, and through your financial donations, 1300 5kg MyLife cereal and 753 Checkers Shoprite vouchers to vulnerable families.

Whilst level 3 will allow far more businesses to operate and some people to get back to work, in a town where tourism is a major economic driver, we anticipate that many businesses reliant on tourism will not survive and those that do, will be seriously cutting down on staff numbers. There will be many people who were earning an income before the lockdown whose prospects of finding employment again are considerably diminished.

These facebook posts give two independent perspectives : the first by a Kayamandi resident, and the second by a Stellenbosch resident :

“… are a vital part of the societal response because of their speed, innovation, and local responsiveness. They complement the central role of government.”

Our systems of monitoring and evaluation have been refined over the last 15 years during which time we have developed a holistic approach to breaking the poverty cycle. We keep records of all our beneficiaries, and this is the case even during the pandemic crisis. Any recipient, who receives a food parcel or voucher from us, is either screened by one of our community workers or is vouched for by one of the community leaders with whom we have been co-operating. Their details are recorded, they provide some sort of identification and then sign for the food received. As far as possible, all beneficiaries are tracked until they become self-sufficient.

Please would you consider donating to Love to Give – either for the first time or once again. We really need your help to provide for hunger relief for people in crisis as far as we possibly can for the next few months.

Our recently updated website has our banking details and easy payment solutions.

We hope that the positive outcome from this pandemic is stronger bonds between communities, better understandings of the lives of other communities and the sense of Ubuntu across all our communities.

Donate directly to us and you will receive a Donation’s receipt which can be used for tax purposes.

Bank: ABSA
Acc. Name: Stellenbosch Community Development Programme
Acc. No: 406 384 1099

Or

Why don’t you start a Fundraiser campaign for Love to Give through GivenGain which is linked to us?

With Warm RegardsAnnabel and the team at Love to Give

Annabel Rosholt, Project Director