Preschool principals and cooks from Cape Town’s most overlooked communities were welcomed not as beneficiaries waiting to receive donations, but as valued partners dedicated to helping children thrive at Ladles of Love’s recent Nourish Our Children workshop.
Cape Town, South Africa (23 August 2026) – Eighty preschool principals and cooks from Cape Town’s most overlooked and gang-affected communities recently attended a Ladles of Love Nourish Our Children programme workshop.
Many lead centres that other organisations struggle to reach. As a result, they have stretched limited fees, used personal income and relied on occasional donations to ensure that children are safe and fed.
Yet, they were not welcomed as beneficiaries waiting with outstretched hands. They were received with warmth, dignity and respect as valued partners in a shared mission to raise healthier children.
During the event, participants were shown that healthy meals do not need to be complicated or expensive. Familiar ingredients were transformed into nutritious, enjoyable food that children genuinely want to eat. Faeeza from Little Pumpkin Pirates took soya and mash home for her ten-year-old son, who enjoyed every bite.
Another principal was moved to tears, not because she felt pitied, but because she saw the care, preparation and belief being invested in ECDs like hers.
Not your typical workshop, the 80 preschool principals and cooks who entered Ladles of Love’s doors seeking support left as partners who are now part of the Nourish Our Children programme.
“This is what sets Nourish Our Children apart. We do not simply deliver food and leave. We build knowledge, strengthen confidence, monitor impact and walk alongside the people serving children every day. Nutrition and early learning are brought together because a hungry or malnourished child cannot fully benefit from even the best classroom,” said Ladles of Love CEO, Danny Diliberto.
Today, Ladles of Love works alongside 240 social entrepreneurs in communities too often overlooked. These women are not only creating places where children are protected and taught; they are building environments where children can thrive, arriving each morning nourished, healthy and biologically ready to learn.
Supporters’ donations make this partnership possible. It places nutritious meals on a child’s plate, practical knowledge in a cook’s hands and renewed hope in an ECD principal’s heart.
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Martin Zibula, Ladles of Love’s National Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, shares similar sentiments:
“Every meal served, every principal empowered, and every child supported is proof of what becomes possible when people choose to invest in a better future. Together, we’re building a movement that ensures no child’s potential is limited by hunger or circumstance.”
When people choose to walk alongside Ladles of Love, they become part of something bigger than themselves, helping to create opportunities for children, strengthen communities and unlock potential where it matters most.
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