Tawana Community NPO brought a ray of light into the lives of many on July 23 by donating free food to those in need in Glen Marikana informal settlement in Phomolong, Tembisa.
Hundreds of the Marikana residents were served with soup and vegetables during the lunch.
The NPO was founded by Norkem Park residents Sylvia Mofokeng, Isiah Chikosi and Andile Mlambo.
According to Tawana Community NPO spokesperson Sylvia Mofokeng low-income families are in crisis as they do not have food to sustain them and go to bed hungry.
“With Covid -19 we have seen an increase in the number of vulnerable people in communities,” said Mofokeng.
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“Previously we had adopted 12 families for monthly relief and we now find ourselves having more than 20 families who are unemployed and asking for help and this is due to the companies laying people off, among other reasons.
“It has also seen most of our private funders unable to assist us during this time and it has put unprecedented strain on us. To add to these challenges, the number of people benefiting from our soup programme has doubled. We used to feed up to 100 people, but now we have more as people are unemployed and children are not at school.
“With this pandemic we see ourselves more relevant than ever before as we respond to the most basic needs of our community,” said Mofokeng.
“We are assisted by an organisation called Africa Awake with grocery parcels by Reverend Mosehla from Hope Restoration Ministries.
“Africa Awake found us through our Facebook page.
“The aim of our weekly Thursday soup kitchen is to inspire change to the most vulnerable members of our community, who are mostly affected by poverty and unemployment amid lockdown. We implement this change by first feeding and clothing identified families who are in need and then we educate the community about available avenues to access help through public and private bursaries, learnerships and small businesses funding programmes,” said Mofokeng.
“We are part of the community and we grew up in similar conditions. As founders we share experiences of being hungry, feeling neglected and hopeless. With this in mind we found a need to make a difference by feeding and clothing people and to give them hope and strength to find opportunities that will later make a difference for them and their families.
“Our organisation is rooted on the Ubuntu principle where we say ‘umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ so we always say to people our doors are always opened.”
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