Help keep Umbilo meal project’s wheels turning

THE Umbilo-based NPO, Durban Meals on Wheels appealed to the community to help keep its wheels turning as they provide meals to impoverished communities in Umbilo that are recovering from the recent KZN unrest and the financial struggles of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sharon Moodley, the manager of Durban Meals on Wheels, said the organisation is the welfare arm of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

“Our mission is to transform lives through charity in motion. Our vision is a hunger-free South Africa and our core business is to provide hot meals that are nutritionally balanced,” she said.

“Our kitchen is based in Umbilo and beneficiaries come here five days a week, from Monday to Friday, to receive meals. We feed the poorest of the poor from underprivileged and impoverished communities,” added Moodley.

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She said it also reached out to informal settlements in Umbilo and its surrounds.

“There are a lot of small, impoverished, informal communities such as Bonela, Seaview and Mayville. During the unrest, these communities were assisted by Durban Meals on Wheels with meals, fresh fruit and vegetables and food parcels,” she said.

The number of beneficiaries knocking at its doors has increased recently, explained Moodley.

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“Many other organisations that provided meals to the public during the pandemic have now closed their doors. So many beneficiaries come to our kitchen to receive food daily. The numbers are increasing so we, at Meals on Wheels, irrespective of the pandemic, have to keep the wheels turning. “We hope to do more. We are currently preparing sandwiches that we distribute to a children’s home and nearby clinic twice a week,” she said.

“We humbly appeal to the public to get involved by assisting in any way possible in making sure we can continue to feed the poor,” she added.