Those who have harvest are bringing it to the table for all to share. This speaks volumes about the Ubuntu moment that we are all being called to by this virus.
Cape Town, South Africa (15 May 2020) – Ladles of Love are facing the COVID-19 Hunger Pandemic head-on… and inspiring us all in the process!
Volunteer-run Ladles of Love, has had to dramatically increase its cooking production and since the start of lockdown has provided 150-thousand cooked meals, over half a million sandwiches, 100-thousand boiled eggs and 110 tonnes of fresh produce to 77 NGOs, and with the numbers of hungry people growing by the day is now aiming to rewrite the Covid-19 story to one of hope and compassion with its CT Loved appeal, aimed at getting more South Africans to help feed the hungry.
The pandemic is now affecting more and more families, and millions of people living in the Cape peninsula are hungry and in need of food and essentials… in essence, COVID-19 has also created a hunger pandemic in South Africa.
“With no money for food or the chance to find work the situation for more and more Capetonians will get even worse over the coming weeks and months,” says Ladles of Love founder Danny Diliberto.
“Our CT Loved appeal is a massive call to action, to rally people who care, to donate money, food and essential items in the spirit of Ubuntu so that Ladles can broaden its reach to feed as many mouths as possible and contribute more to sustainable feeding schemes giving hope and food to the communities that need it most.”
He continues: “It is a chance for South Africans to be part of creating something positive, impactful and meaningful and change the story of Covid-19 through some simple but powerful actions. We need to get people behind this drive as our mission is to get millions of nutritious meals to communities safely and efficiently, providing a sense of relief and hope to the hungry for as long as we possibly can.”
“Together we can re-write the Covid-19 story and change our memories of 2020 with stories of Cape Town’s compassion and love,” says Diliberto. “No one deserves to go hungry. Since Covid-19, we found ourselves having to serve more people. Therefore we are appealing to every South African to help us serve a million meals by simply donating R150, which will feed someone for a month.”
A crisis brings out the best and worst in people. Diliberto says that we can either let it get to us, or we can rise above it.
Diliberto says that Capetonians have rallied together and are facing the COVID-19 Hunger Pandemic head-on.
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“Capetonians have already shown how big their hearts are both with monetary donations and our beautiful families, across the Peninsula, coming together, making thousands of sandwiches daily.”
He adds: “We are humbled how Ladles of Love has been able to bring people together and re-write the Covid-19 story in the spirit of Seva, a beautiful Sanskrit word meaning giving of yourself without expecting anything in return.”
Having said this, he points out that with communities needs increasing daily, the goal is now to get maximum food to beneficiaries via our growing NPO network.
“Firstly, we need to expand our Food Donation and Sandwich Drive, which has grown into a huge movement involving people from suburbs all over Cape Town, making sandwiches and donating non-perishables. To date, we have collected over 500,000 sandwiches to distribute to the hungry via our partner NPOs. We want to grow this initiative to 500 000 a month with the help of more individuals and families getting involved.”
Secondly, with the help of generous donations, Ladles can supply bulk produce to community NPO’s soup kitchens to provide nutritious meals regularly to their beneficiates in volume.
Ladles of Love has been able to broaden its reach to feed more hungry people by recently partnering with the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) which offered 1,500 sq. meters of space in the form of a temporary kitchen and a hall as a distribution centre to the volunteer-led organisation to enable them to further expand their reach. This will serve as a temporary headquarters until 30 June 2020.
“To us, it’s not just about feeding people, it’s also about the taste and the nutrition of the meals we make – all made with love,” Diliberto adds. “We want to thank everyone who is part of this campaign for showing SO much love, SO much compassion and kindness and making sure we can spread love, food and connection throughout The Mother City at this time and we look forward to as many people as possible joining the CTLoved campaign and getting involved, however they can,” he adds.
Watch the video below:
Those wishing to donate can go to www.ctloved.co.za
For more information, visit the Ladles of Love Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages or go to https://www.ladlesoflove.org.za.
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