Greetings and wishes of peace, healthy, happiness and prosperity to you all. Today marks the ninth day of 2025 and our first Love Letter of the new year comes with a big welcome to all our new supporters, who will be reading their first newsletter from us.
Every week we promise to bring you stories, topical themes and news – sometimes happy, sometimes sad but always heartfelt, authentic and meaningful. We are the conduit to providing you information from underserved communities where basic human rights are a daily challenge. We believe as one of our supporters, you deserve to know what is happening right here on our doorsteps.
This week we look at ‘kindness’ as we have chosen to make this a key focus in 2025. By definition ‘Kindness’ is… the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate towards others. It involves being gentle, caring and helpful, behaving in a way that promotes goodwill, compassion, and empathy.
Danny Diliberto our founder, was based at our Dignity Kitchen in Cape Town over season where one of our international volunteers, Beatrice shared this story with him, which encapsulates the virtue of kindness.
Beatrice said: “I was visiting relatives in another part of my country when, on my way back, I had to change trains. As I made my way up to the platform, I noticed a display announcing that the train would be delayed by about ten to fifteen minutes.
While waiting, I spotted a man with a white cane, who appeared to be visually impaired. Since there were no audio announcements, I felt compelled to share the news of the delay with him. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the information and then asked me where I was traveling to. His name was Beat Beyeler, and he invited me to join him in first class, as he was entitled to have an accompanying person with him. I gratefully accepted his generous offer.
As we chatted on the train, the conversation turned to our holiday experiences. I shared that I travel to South Africa twice a year to volunteer, specifically at a soup kitchen called Ladles of Love in Cape Town. I shared Danny’s story—how everything began in 2014 and how much it has grown over time and now provides daily nutrition for thousands of little children.
In a touching moment, Beat opened his wallet and asked if there were 150 Swiss Francs inside. When I confirmed there were, he told me to take them and donate them to Ladles of Love. His kindness and willingness to contribute to a cause that meant so much to me brought tears to my eyes and has left a lasting impression on me.”
Beatrice’s story touched our hearts, and the result of this kindness was over R3115 in our currency, meaning we can provide 623 healthy meals to our preschool children in need.
This donation is much needed as we are gearing up to kick off our pre-school nutrition programme next week. If you have not become involved already, we invite you to become a donor and support our ‘Feed the Future’ campaign by sponsoring small children two daily meals at R250.00 per child, per month.
What we love about acts of kindness is that they can uplift not only others but also ourselves, creating a ripple effect that spreads positivity and well-being far beyond the initial act.
In 2025 – let’s all be kind,
With gratitude and appreciation,
Danny and Team ❤️
