Love Howick's Street Store Offers Renewed Hope to Over 99 Households

Photo Credit: mali maeder from Pexels

Fuelled by community spirit, Love Howick’s Street Store is a lifeline that has supported 99 struggling households in two months. Thanks to this initiative, a father of five can now consistently provide food, and a young man who once slept hungry finds both meals and clothing.

Howick, South Africa (30 July 2025) – Empowering those in need with dignity and sustainability lies at the heart of Love Howick. In just a little over two months, 99 households have been supported through its community-driven Street Store initiative.

The store, which works on a Recycle-to-Redeem system, enables those in need of basic supplies to exchange their bags of recyclable waste for tokens to shop.

The Street Store stocks quality second-hand clothing, toiletries, formal clothing appropriate for interviews, food supplies, homeware and toys, all generously donated by community members looking out for their fellow friends who could do with some of their unwanted items.

The impact is profound, as highlighted by stories like Musawenkosi, a father of five who uses tokens from recycling to put food on the table. With no work, they survive on children’s grants and by collecting recycling. Those bags of waste become tokens for food and clothes at the Street Store.

Then there’s Thobile, a mother of three and a grandmother. Her children walk daily from Shiyabazali to Nogqaza for school. Unemployed, she relies on grants and rare piece jobs.

“I appreciate what Love Howick is doing,” she says.

And for Xolani, who lives alone, unemployed, and sometimes sleeps hungry, life had become so hard that he sent his daughter to live with relatives. When piece jobs are scarce, the Street Store is where Xolani finds food to fill his stomach and clothes to wear.

Every bag of recycling traded is another day survived for these families and many others.

This is why Love Howick’s Street Store exists. It’s fostering a sense of purpose and renewed hope, showing that even in challenging times, there’s a place to turn. One black bag of waste earns five tokens worth R70, and an hour of volunteering earns two tokens worth R28.