Pretoria food bank running on empty

Supplies at the Tshwane food bank have been depleted leading to an urgent call to residents and organisations to assist beneficiaries, reports Centurion Rekord.

MMC for health Sakkie du Plooy said the Tshwane food bank was used to respond to disasters by providing emergency social relief to affected, qualifying individuals and households, as prescribed by the bill of rights in the Constitution.

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To enable such relief, the city keeps an emergency stock of food and non-food items at the food bank.

The food bank in its current form supports a total of 221 non-profit organisations and 1,666 individuals on a regular basis.

Du Plooy said given the sudden drop in food bank stock levels, it was important to inform regular beneficiaries of the food bank timeously of a possible reduction in the size of parcels.

“While waiting for the finalisation of the procurement process to fully restock the food bank, the city is doing everything possible to procure additional stock.

“In recent months, Mooiplaas, Laezonia, Moreleta Park, Plastic View 1, and Plastic View 2 in the east of Pretoria were engulfed in fire that ravaged the informal settlements.”

This prompted the provision of emergency relief packages with food and non-food items, including blankets, from the food bank and to all victims.

“The repeated occurrence of fire has led to the depletion of stock levels at the Tshwane food bank.

“In the four fire disasters we had, more than 500 structures were gutted by fire, leaving a total of 1,296 people without food, shelter, and other basic necessities.”

A total of 500 parcels were issued to these families.

“The provision of food and essentials is in line with the city’s commitment to care for the vulnerable and fight poverty,” said Du Plooy.

He urged stakeholders in the community to assist regular beneficiaries that may not get adequate supplies from the food bank with humanitarian assistance aimed at reducing suffering.

Organisations and individuals who would like to contribute by providing aid can contact officials of the food bank on 012 358 5998. The Tshwane food bank may not accept donations for storage at its premises, but the metro would rather facilitate linkages between donors and needy organisations or families.

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