Covid-19: Community rallies together to donate thousands of sandwiches to those in need
FOURWAYS – Fourways community members work together to help those in need during the lockdown.
In a time of great need, ordinary community members work together to help those most in need of help.
An initiative was started just a few weeks ago by mother and daughter Gillian and Jenna Rom. Since then, they have been able to donate over 24 000 sandwiches and 200 relief packs. Gillian said that there has been an incredible response from residents in Craigavon, Fourways, Lonehill, Bryanston and Sunninghill.
Gillian and Jenna, with the help of friends and family members, travel to different informal settlements each day to try and assist. So far, they have been able to donate sandwiches to Kya Sands Pipeline, Msawawa, Vendisi, Diepsloot, Alexandra and others.
Jenna said that they decided they had to do something to help when they were driving down the road and noticed people digging in dustbins to find food. “We thought we really need to do something so we just started handing out sandwiches from our house and we asked people in our estate for sandwiches and it just grew rapidly.”
Jenna said that her father’s business, Storage Hub at Cedar Square, has been acting as a drop-off point. “Our goal two weeks ago was to feed 500 people and now we’re on 24 000.”
She added that, so far, there have been about 300 people who have donated. Gillian and Jenna encouraged as many community members as possible to get involved and help donate food packs to people in the informal settlements. Gillian has encouraged businesses to get involved too as most people who have donated have been individuals.
During a visit to the Kya Sands Pipeline on 24 April, hundreds of residents lined up in the hopes of receiving a sandwich or food pack. Community leaders help organise community members into groups of men, women and children to ensure that children and mothers receive food first. Community members have their hands sprayed with sanitiser before handing out packages.
Gillian said that sadly, they aren’t able to help everyone in the community and the community leaders have been incredible in helping identify those that are in most desperate need. Police officers from Douglasdale Police Station also assist each day in making sure that there is order.
Usually, the group will hand out sandwiches until about 1pm and then return home to make more sandwiches and fill boxes of donations for the following day. Jenna added, “The need at the moment isn’t really sandwiches, we’re more in need of food packs and sanitary items.”
Mama Masemola, one of the community members in Kya Sands Pipeline said that there is a desperate need in the community, particularly for food packs. She also highlighted that community members don’t have access to masks and physical distancing is virtually impossible. She requested that community members donate cloth masks if they are able to.
She said that food packs could include maize meal, rice, samp, tinned foods and cooking oil. Items such as baby clothes are also much-needed as some mothers in the community who recently gave birth haven’t had access to essential baby supplies.
If you would like to donate items, you can contact Gilliam Rom on 063 453 3779. Items call also be donated at Storage Hub in Cedar Square from 9am to 12pm each day.
How are you helping to give back to those less fortunate during the lockdown?
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