All 12 primary schools in Alexandra, including one combined high school, have been benefitting from a nationwide food relief initiative from the Tiger Brands Foundation since April right up to July.
The primary schools that benefitted from 550 food parcels in April, 600 in May and 558 in July were Bovet, DH Carter, Dr Knak, Ekukhanyisweni, Emfundisweni, Gordon, Ika=ge, Iphutheng, Ithute, MC Weiler, Skeen, Zenzeleni and Pholosho Combined Junior School.
Eugene Absolom, director of the foundation, said the Covid-19 lockdowns around the world have severely limited the socio-economic impact of nutrition models at schools but the Tiger Brands Foundation had tried its best to overcome this hurdle.
Absolom said the foundation’s in-school breakfast model was created to go beyond just the meal. It incorporated in its value chain initiatives that allowed communities to benefit from the nutrition programme, he added.
“Our model has spin-offs that allow communities to get involved from logistics to food preparation as well as training programmes that give community members skills to enhance their employability outside the school nutrition ecosystem,” he said.
He, however, admitted that some of the activities along the value chain were severely disrupted as schools remained closed for the time being during the early month of the lockdown.”We immediately switched to the delivery of food hampers the moment lockdown was announced. This was to ensure that our pupils remain well-nourished.”
He said this was a temporary measure as the foundation was determined to resume all other activities as soon as it became safe to do so. Absolom added that the food hampers that the foundation was distributing to schoolchildren and their families across the country included far more than the usual breakfast.
“The hampers contain enough food to feed a family.”The food hampers included flour, pilchards, rice, beans, oats, samp, mielie meal, milk powder and soap. “This [soap] helps families to maintain good hygiene standards as part of the protocols required in the fight against Covid-19.”
Related article:
