Week After Week, Rex Hunt is Delivering Hope and Nourishment to Shaka’s Head Homes

Photo Credit: Rex Hunt

Driven by a heart that refuses to look away, Rex Hunt proves every week that you don’t need a fortune to change a life. Only a van, warm meals, and the promise to show up for those who have the least.

Shaka’s Head, South Africa (23 April 2026) – Eighteen years ago, Rex Hunt answered his calling to help. To help those battling mental health challenges, addiction, abuse, hunger, and just about any other hardship in between.

As an accredited Addiction Recovery and Mental Health Coach, Rex went on to found ADCA (Against Drugs and Child Abuse), a non-profit organisation supporting people through their toughest chapters and spreading hope throughout the disadvantaged communities of Shaka’s Head and Groutville.

He recalls one of his earliest efforts, helping a gogo with meals who had taken on the responsibility of caring for vulnerable children, who, due to various hardships, were safer under her roof than in their family homes.

“I’ve been helping ever since. It just grew from there. The ADCA Hot Meals Initiative started about seven years ago with a group of volunteers, and it has kept growing, becoming something we do every single week (with only two weeks off in the year). The people we’re helping have come to rely on it. They know my vehicle will arrive with hot, healthy food, and sometimes fruit and clothing.”

Inspired by a heart that beats for people, Rex developed an initiative that has truly sustained those in need.

Rex has seen people who were previously battling with their health look healthier again, thanks to the meals that he and his volunteers provided.

He notes that financial strain and unemployment are the central issues that affect the communities he supports.

“One of the other challenges in our area is that most of the people above the breadline don’t actually realise how many people around them are really battling and don’t have much. I just had a mother and daughter arrive at my place with literally nothing besides a small gas cooker. They have no food, and I think they share a bed. I just supplied them with food. I always have frozen cooked food on hand. A lot of people have very, very little. That is the reality of so many people living and working in our community,” Rex says.

But the gratitude of those whom he is able to assist always shines bright.

“The people who are in need of help are so grateful for the help they receive. And for some who had lost hope, once a guy like me pitches up with a warm meal they desperately needed, they realise they are seen and supported. They are motivated to get back up and try again.”

His team has found a further 160 people in Shaka’s Head living with physical disabilities and will extend their mission to these individuals, ensuring they are fed fresh, good food at least a couple of times a week.

Rex has brought hope, relief, joy, and, as he puts it, shared the love of Jesus, through various other initiatives and partnerships with other charities and community groups that have inspired humanity and brought people together.

“When you give, it does something to you,” Rex shares regarding the force that drives his passion.

“Give, and it will be given back to you, pressed down, shaken together, running over and poured onto your lap. And so I can’t expect anything unless I actually start giving. However, I like to give without the expectation of getting anything back. When I go into the places, and people see my van coming in, and the children come running to give me hugs and are excited for their food, it does so much to me. When the pensioners who can barely walk start singing and dancing in appreciation, there’s just no better feeling. Children are also starting to share the meals they receive with other kids. Through my act of giving, I’ve broken a culture of holding and keeping food to themselves and instead inspired one of sharing and giving. That’s just such a beautiful thing to see.”

There is a constant need for food, fuel and other running costs at ADCA to help reach and feed as many people as possible. To help keep the pots cooking and Rex’s van on the road, consider donating to ADCA’s Zapper account or to the banking details below: