As the late Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible, until it is done.” This was proved by community organisation Ladles of Love when it broke a Guinness World Record.
For Mandela Day (July 18), the organisation hosted a large-scale fundraising event in Sandton and Cape Town to not only smash the world’s largest mosaic created entirely out of food cans, but more importantly, feed those facing food insecurity.
According to Danny Diliberto, founder and CEO of Ladles of Love, the spirit of Unbuntu was incredible across both cities.
“We placed around 90 000 food cans on the mosaics across the two cities and we’ve raised so much in terms of actual food and support to carry on with our mission to feed as many people as we can for as long as we can, and we cannot thank those that got involved enough.”
A total of 32 040 food cans created a South African flag mosaic in Nelson Mandela Square in Johannesburg while a further 58 685 food cans created a Madiba mosaic in the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Enthusiastic volunteers and corporates in Johannesburg donated and chopped 1.3 tonnes of vegetables and made 7 000 sandwiches. A total of 2.5 tonnes of vegetables were donated and chopped in Cape Town and 55 000 sandwiches were made.
Ladles of Love marketing director Alison McCutcheon said that the event was aimed at gaining global awareness and support.
“This was a tradition started three years ago when we were looking for an event that could attract global attention and provide a platform for people to give us their time in serving their 67 minutes on Mandela Day.”
The objective is to collect food, raise funds and garner awareness to alleviate hunger and poverty.
“Ladles of Love extends a heartfelt thank you to all the people and businesses that stepped up to smash not one, but two world records and to address the alleviation of hunger,” concluded Diliberto.
Details: www.ladlesoflove.org.za
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