What we love about Easter time and the gathering of families, is that in our country, it is not about any one religion but more about the ethos of ubuntu. It is a time of gratitude and sharing, when conscious minded companies and people recognise how abundantly blessed we are, and how many people living in communities close by, are not as privileged. It is a time of year to think about the children who are not getting new clothes for the change of season or being showered in chocolates as their parents are battling to put food on the table.
This year our corporate partners reached out offering to gift the children in our nutrition programme with easter eggs, and after consulting with our nutritionist, we agreed that special treats are good and especially those that come wrapped in love, kindness and hope.
A big shout out to our preschool programme partners – Coronation who continue to walk this journey with us and provide children and their teachers with two healthy meals a day – and when it comes to high days and holidays, they make sure no child is left behind.
Our Head of Fundraising, Jane Falck-Koeller, was invited to receive all the ‘Easter Eggs’ and shared with us her experience:
“I’ll never forget the moment I received the 7,488 sweet surprises from Coronation, box after box, each Easter Egg destined for a child who had likely never received one before. As we dispatched them to our preschools, I felt it: this is what partnership really means. Not just a transaction, but a genuine act of giving that ripples far beyond the boardroom, all the way to a small child, eyes wide, clutching an Easter egg like it was the greatest treasure in the world. Coronation supports the children at Little Conquerors with two nutritious meals a day every school day. As well as critical nutrition training for the teachers.
Whether you join us through our Corporate Impact Circle or by championing a preschool, you’re not just supporting a cause, you’re becoming part of a movement that feeds, nurtures, and transforms young children living in extreme food poverty. Give a child the best start, and you help break the cycle of poverty for good.
If you want to feel what I felt that day, we’d love you at our table.”
Jane Falck-Koeller | Head of Partnerships, Ladles of Love
The good news is how the children are flourishing on our new nutrition programme. We saw it with our own eyes, and it is truly life – changing. One principal shared how it took a few meals for children to begin eating vegetables and to understand the goodness in them. Fast forward a couple of months, and parents were telling similar stories with children refusing to eat meals without veggies, or asking why their weekend breakfasts were not oats. The knock-on effect was parents asking how the food was prepared so they could cook the same meals at home.
We are determined for our Nourish Our Children programme to do nutrition so brilliantly that it becomes a way of life. Seeing really is believing. Good food has the power to change how communities think and behave when it comes to buying, cooking and eating. All three principals we visited were adamant that the attendance of both children and teachers has improved, with noticeably less illness. This is huge. In environments where colds, flu and tummy bugs spread quickly, they are seeing firsthand that good nutrition makes a profound difference to healthy bodies and minds.
We know that we still have a long walk to freedom because, for us, freedom means access to healthy food for all, especially for our future leaders. It means understanding that training and education are fundamental to changing the narrative around nutrition. We have learnt that providing food alone is not enough. We need to shift mindsets, upskill communities, and monitor, measure, record, and review our impact, so that the proof of the pudding is in the data. When principals see the facts, they become advocates, championing good nutrition in their schools and neighbourhoods.
Thank you for supporting us, for believing in our work, for investing in and uplifting communities, and most of all, for walking this journey with us, as we work towards a better country for all.
Danny Diliberto
Danny and the Ladles of Love Team ❤️
