Charity Begins With Me has a recycling project on the go; men and women can bring recyclable items to swop for food parcels
Johannesburg, South Africa (06 October 2020) – Stephan Ferreira was diagnosed with Leukemia, he refused to let the diagnosis destroy his life! Instead, he decided to spend the rest of his life dedicated to making the world a better place for the less fortunate.
He started the ‘Charity Begins With Me’ feeding scheme to feed children every Sunday. He started by feeding 50 children but over time, it grew to more than 400 every Sunday. He is a non-registered non-profit and relies solely on food donations and volunteers.
Stephen has been running several projects through lockdown as a way to support the community that relies on the charity. Many have struggled during the lockdown and with the help of Charity Begins With Me, they are doing so much better. However, Stephen believes strongly in giving a hand up and not a handout.
This means that everyone that benefits from the charity’s work, gives back in one way or another. The recycling project started recently helps people clean their communities and in exchange for their recycling, they get a small food parcel. People can also volunteer for the charity and the community is working hard to make a beautiful food garden.
The charity is cashless, meaning they do not accept financial donations, they prefer shopping vouchers for big food stores like Checkers and Pick n Pay, and Stephen welcomes donations of food and other items regularly used by the charity.
“We keep busy on Saturdays and there is no such thing as a free hand out. Our recycling swap shop allows men and women to swap their recycling for a food parcel. All the bottles, cans, tins etc. are then donated to the informal recyclers so they can also earn a living.
The concept is simple and leads to a cleaner environment. We also want to teach that hard work is rewarded.
Our biggest need for this project is any canned food items like baked beans, soup packets and instant noodles. Please help by donating one or two next time you go to the shops. Or buy from Pick n Pay / Checkers online and they will deliver directly to my door.”
You can reach out to Stephen via Facebook, you can find all his contact details here. There are several projects on the go including a fun recycling swop for children. They trade their recycling for toys.
The charity is also looking for donations of seeds so if you have, you can reach out to drop them off.
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