Planting seeds for change in Montwood
Seeds for Change Montwood Park provides food parcels to the families of Yellowwood Park, Woodhaven, Montclair and Woodlands during a hard time when many had lost hope.
FROM turmoil and destruction, who knew a beacon of hope would shine.
Yellowwood Park residents, Shanyn Bosman, Shannon Sewell, Charz Sonnekus and Sheila Philogene, who were previously unknown to each other were brought together by destiny after it was placed in each of their hearts to help struggling families following the recent unrest.
Born from an overwhelmingly positive response on a social media post by Charz, their newly formed passion project, called Seeds for Change Montwood Park, provides food parcels to the families of Yellowwood Park, Woodhaven, Montclair and Woodlands during a hard time when many had lost hope.
“We’re not aligned to any organisation. We are just four women who saw families asking for food during the unrest and realized that there were no organisations to help feed families in our area. We are still learning this process. We are not a registered NPO and we only started this last week. We are looking to continue this until the families are back on their feet again. We have had such support from our community and our councillor is behind us. We have priority families that we know are in dire need. We’re looking to assist people who have been impacted by the looting as well as Covid-19. It has been a process and a learning curve because we are also trying to figure out a criteria that is not unfairly exclusive of anyone. The hardest part of what we do is reading the heartbreaking stories of the people who reach out to us for help,” they shared.
“When donations started flowing in, that’s when I realized that people are so kind and all you need to do is reach out and ask for help,” said Shannon Sewell. They source donations through appeals on social media and are also trying to form a network of stakeholders who can assist them moving forward. Other helpers in the community have also supported the cause with donations and a helping hand wherever it is needed. They donate food essentials like bread, milk, vegetables and non-perishables. They also have hopes to start a vegetable garden in the near future.
“I’ve been living in this area for almost 40 years and I’ve had blinkers on to what’s going on under my nose. We get the most beautiful thank you messages and it makes it so worth it,” said Shannon.
“There have always been people in need and now we’re actually finding out who they are. Now we can actually put a name, a face and a family to them,” said Sheila and Shanyn. “We are so grateful to all our donors from the bottom of our hearts. A special thank you to Servolution for their generous donation.”
The group appeals for donations of plastic bags or small boxes to help package the parcels as well as basic food items including, bread, milk and non-perishable foods. Monetary donations are also welcome.
For more information contact Shannon Sewell on 076 398 3680.
DID YOU KNOW? Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics. To receive news links via WhatsApp or Telegram, send an invite to 061 876 3179. The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist. (Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun).
