UJ Staff and Students Bring Out the Pots to Cook, Serve and Give Back

Photo Credit: UJ Health and Medical Professions via Facebook

UJ students and staff recently came together for a morning of hearty soup-making, sandwich-spreading and shared compassion to support Kensington’s less fortunate.

Johannesburg, South Africa (15 July 2026) – More often than not, wonderfully wholesome things happen when hands and hearts driven to do good come together.

This is exactly what happened when staff and students from the Complementary Medicine Department at the University of Johannesburg put on their aprons and brought out their biggest pots to prepare nourishing meals for those in need.

The group recently spent a morning volunteering at a local soup kitchen in Kensington, which provides warm meals and approximately 650 peanut butter sandwiches to around 250 people living in the Johannesburg Inner City.

Inspired by this work and in honour of Nelson Mandela Day, the UJ do-gooders were moved to lend a hand and become part of something far greater than themselves.

“Together, our volunteers assisted with preparing soup, making sandwiches, and supporting a community initiative that provides nourishment, dignity, and hope to people experiencing food insecurity. Mandela Day reminds us that meaningful change begins with acts of service, compassion, and collective action,” the UJ volunteering team shared.

Photo Credit: UJ Health and Medical Professions via Facebook

Images shared on the UJ Health and Medical Professions Facebook page captured the sense of joy and fulfilment that comes with doing good and giving back as staff and students prepared big pots of vegetable soup and worked together to spread hundreds of sandwiches.

The initiative also formed part of the University’s commitment to social impact and community engagement, while advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those focused on fighting hunger, promoting good health and well-being, and building partnerships to achieve these goals.

In every sense, UJ’s efforts were wholesome: a simple act of service that gave back in a deeply meaningful way. By showing up with willing hands, open hearts and a shared commitment to community, the volunteers helped turn ordinary ingredients into nourishment, dignity and hope for people who needed it most.