More than just food

In addition to daily feeding, the operation owns a small bakery that doubles as a training facility for the unemployed.

Operation Snowdrop also redistributes any goods that they receive to anybody that they know of who is in need.

Furniture, wheelchairs and laptops are only some of the items that they donate.

The Addie recently met with Ina McDonald, the chairperson of Operation Snowdrop to find out what makes her tick.

Ina was born and raised in Springs and became the first female prosecutor, magistrate and attorney in town.

She was the chairman of the child welfare for 17 years before deciding to open her own practice in 1989.

Ina was also president of the Springs Rotary Club and left after seven years.

Operation Snowdrop started eight years ago, and has been growing steadily.

“We do any community charity work,” says Ina, “it’s all to make people’s lives somewhat better.

“We also try and take two students per annum and put them through university,” she says.

According to Ina, they currently have three students in university and have only had one drop out.

Ina says her passion for the people she works with and in her private life is what drives her.

When asked what inspires her, Ina said, “The sense that you can make a difference and seeing someone that you’ve helped achieve something.”

Her favourite part of doing the work that she does is the interaction with the people and forging relationships with them.

Ina uses the words driven, supportive, positive, loyal and understanding to describe herself.

Ina says that her least favourite part of doing charity work is thinking that you can’t help everybody.

“You need to make peace with the fact that you can only do so much,” she says.

In her spare time, Ina enjoys doing arts and crafts, pilates exercises, line dancing and going to the gym.

Based on the success of the operation, it is clear that Ina McDonald and Operation Snowdrop are still going to be around for quite some time to come.