Finger lickin’ good charity feeds thousands of school children

Small donations from customers of KFC – just R2 on a meal – are helping to feed thousands of school children and enabling them to have a chance for a better life, say researchers who studied the initiative that has raised more than R1 billion over the past 15 years.

Speaking at the launch of the first impact assessment of KFC Add Hope, Tracey Toefey, senior lecturer at Gordon Institute of Business Science, who led the research team that conducted the assessment, said there had been numerous positive outcomes, ranging from improved physical health, school attendance and social skills, to reduced psychological stress.

Effects of food insecurity and poor nutrition

The study noted “the damaging and far-reaching effects of food insecurity and poor nutrition are cognitive, physical, social and psychological in nature”.

“Children without adequate quality nutrition cannot achieve their developmental and academic potential and are at higher risk of experiencing lifelong health and economic challenges.

“Conversely, optimal nutrition is positively associated with strong child development,” the study stated.

Statistic SA’s General Household Survey (GHS), released recently, revealed that nearly a quarter of households reported insufficient access to food.

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Specifically, 23% of households deemed their access to food either inadequate or severely inadequate, an increase of five percentage points compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Partner wanted to how Add Hope operates with a small donation

Sue Wildish of The Lunchbox Fund said when they first partnered with Add Hope about seven years ago, they wanted to see how they, through a small donation, operate and if they were trustworthy.

“Our partnership has flourished, enabling us to provide approximately 45 million meals over these years. Currently, we feed 26 000 children every school day, spanning from the remote rural regions of KZN, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and urban areas like Gauteng,” she said.

“The impact of hunger on education is profound. Hunger at school makes it difficult for many kids to concentrate. As a result, 81% of pupils have trouble understanding what they read.”

Toefey said one of the outcomes of Add Hope was enhanced school attendance and engagement.

“In instances where the child is guaranteed their only meal at school, the KFC Add Hope programme has increased the enthusiasm to attend school,” she said.

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“Beneficiaries and caregivers have heightened levels of stress as related to the psychological survival responses related to hunger, when they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”

R1 billion raised

Akhona Qengqe, general manager of KFC Africa, said the R1 billion raised came from customer donations (R644 million) and R391 million from KFC. Together, this provides more than 80 000 meals on average daily.

Qengqe says R2 donations grew by 45% in 2023, confirming the power of collective effort and the potential of the impact.

“In 2023, we raised R64 million and served more than 32 million meals. That’s a whole lot of hope added. When you hear about the scale of the hunger that exists in South Africa, it can seem insurmountable,” she said.

“The solution can seem far away. But we can all make a meaningful contribution towards that solution by donating something as seemingly small as R2,” she said.