Working together to reach further, feed more children, and touch more lives.
Supporting Local NPOs
As the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world, including South Africa, and the effects of the resulting lockdown rippled across the nation, it became very clear very quickly that a bigger, more effective, and more scalable solution was needed to address the pressing need for food among the most vulnerable in our communities.
The amount of people who were in need of nutritious meals increased rapidly, and it would’ve been short-sighted to think we could tackle this on our own… especially when there are so many non-profit organisations doing brilliant work throughout South Africa already.
By combining our strengths, we can reach further, fight harder against hunger, and touch more lives.
Ladles of Love has built up an amazing base of donors and volunteers – people like you – as well as a network to allow for quick and efficient distribution of nutritious meals and ingredients.
Living the spirit of ubuntu
Instead of limiting our impact by only sharing ready-cooked meals prepared by ourselves, we realised we could be of better service by providing local non-profit organisations with ingredients – local initiatives that were already active in the communities where they’re needed most, and where they’re trusted. Many of these non-profit organisations were struggling during the pandemic, as support and donations dwindled. However, with their footprint and our infrastructure, we could join forces and provide nutritious meals to those who needed it most.
Beneficiary highlights
There are so many incredible individuals, initiatives, and organisations out there doing absolutely brilliant work to support their communities. Ladles of Love has partnered with some of these non-profit organisations in and around Cape Town in various ways. Here, we shine a spotlight on two of these NPOs:
This multifaceted non-profit organisation serves its community in a number of ways, and has been doing so since 2013 upon seeing the impact of poverty on their neighbours and local community. It’s a community soup kitchen that strives to provide food security. They raise hygiene awareness to promote healthier living. They also spread awareness about teenage pregnancy and provide substance abuse coaching.
Ultimately, it’s their aim to be of service to the underprivileged by empowering, uplifting and educating in whichever way they can. And they believe in doing this out of love and consideration for others – a selfless gesture of goodwill for the good of the community.
Ladles of Love supplies Serving Hands with fresh produce to run their kitchen, enabling them to serve an average of 17 000 meals per week.
“We value and respect Ladles of Love as they have become the light and beacon of hope to Serving Hands. May you continue the good work and may other organisations learn from you as the forerunners in alleviating hunger”
Insaaf Manual, Founder of Serving Hands
Maphindi Soup Kitchen & Orphanage
Some people are simply extraordinary. Mama Victoria Mpambani is one of them. Every single day she takes public transport to travel from Nyanga to Cape Town to collect food to distribute to hundreds of hungry children and other needy people in her community. She also provides a daycare service for 25 toddlers.
“I wasn’t raised to take care only of myself. I didn’t grow up with my mother. I grew up with my father’s family. And they taught me you must look after everyone around you. We’re a community.”
Mama Victoria Mpambani
At the time of this update, Maphindi was providing 1 500 meals per week. Since lockdown relaxed and people began to return to work, this number has fallen, because of budget restrictions and dwindling donations.
Ladles of Love has been supplying Maphindi with vegetables in bulk since the lockdown began. On 23 July 2020, we took this a step further: we were able to grant Mama Victoria a community kitchen, which was sponsored by Lindt South Africa.
How we support non-profit organisations
We strive to find ways to touch as many lives as possible with the resources we have available. It’s much more cost effective to supply vetted soup kitchens in the community with bulk food supplies to assist them to cook and serve this to those in need, than it would be for us to prepare and distribute the same amount of meals. With an average cost of only R1,50 per meal, we’re able to distribute many tons of food equating to millions of meals through our beneficiary network.
We source, collect and receive the necessary produce. All our beneficiaries then come to our warehouse to collect their bulk supplies and take them back to their community kitchens where they cook the food and serve this to those in need. Our beneficiaries are currently spread throughout the Cape Town Peninsula.
Help us to support them by donating money, bulk produce or alternatively, you can talk to us about ways to partner with us.
