A local non-profit organisation that has over 20 years of experience in early childhood development (ECD) held a Cookathon at one of its farm feeding centres on Saturday, July 15.
The Cookathon was held at Family Care Ministries’ (FCM) Orange Farm feeding centre in Drieziek 9, in collaboration with 100% Foundation and Bidvest, who competed in the cookathon by cooking for 500 children in three hours, while other companies and partners read to the children and engaged with them in fun activities.
The foundation works with businesses and people to promote social development through fundraising and project coordination. It supports early childhood education, welfare, humanitarian care, and food security in South Africa. It focuses on self-sustaining individuals, providing basic well-being for orphans and vulnerable children, and promoting sustainable farming principles.
The FCM’s activities are centered around children, youth, and the elderly and have established feeding centres in Orange Farm, Eldorado Park and Evaton and distribute over 3 600 meals every week.
While FCM is committed to feeding the needy, they also offer ECD practitioner training programmes with several child-friendly cognitive development teaching strategies. They are also concerned about alleviating hunger and encouraging literacy, which is why they are so motivated.
“The goal of our cookathon was to create a platform where companies and organisations could promote nutrition by cooking and feeding vulnerable and orphaned children while also promoting literacy by reading books with them,” an FCM representative explained.
Judges tested and rated the food before it was served, just to maintain the competitive aspect of the event.
The organisation calls upon companies and organisations to join and support this drive as they compete to cook and feed 500 hungry children while promoting literacy. Information on FCM’s next Cookathon be inquired via email at familycareministries.sa@gmail.com, or call on 061 548 5973.
