Grahamstown residents have collaborated with local businesses to ensure the reopening of the Grahamstown Feeding Association’s (GFA) soup kitchen that was forced to close down after a robbery on 26 June 2015.
Grahamstown residents have collaborated with local businesses to ensure the reopening of the Grahamstown Feeding Association’s (GFA) soup kitchen that was forced to close down after a robbery on 26 June 2015.
The robbery, which left GFA without an electric urn, a kettle, cooking pots and a vital gas cylinder, meant more than 300 of Grahamstown’s poorest inhabitants went without the nutritious daily meal usually provided by the GFA for over two weeks.
News of the robbery, however, inspired the joint efforts of the city residents, who wasted no time in working towards the organisation's reopening. “We had a pretty wonderful response from the Grahamstown community,” said GFA Chairperson, Joan Kaye.
“Community members did not just say they would help, they actually did it so that we were able to reopen on 13 July with all the equipment that we needed.”
Security and gas issues were some of the major concerns that were quickly taken care of by the proactive efforts of local business owners, “We had an attorney from Dullabh NN & Co offering to pay the Hitec monthly monitoring bill for a whole year,” said Kaye.
“He then walked down to Maxigas and told them what had happened and they delivered us a 94kg gas cylinder which is exactly what we needed.”
Kaye went on to explain that there were many contributions of kindness and cash once people had been made aware of the robbery and every contribution has made a big difference in the lives affected by the closing and reopening of the feeding scheme.
“The lack of proper food has an incredible knock-on effect and it is good that there are a lot of people who are working hard to counter the high levels of poverty,” said Kaye.
“I think Grahamstown is amazing for the efforts that everybody puts in and there is a kind of support network because people are always willing to help.”
Kaye is delighted by the response and by the fact that the soup kitchen is now open again. However, there is still work to do.
“Although we have now installed everything necessary and the kitchen is operating and we have had a panic button and proper alarm systems installed and things are set to run smoothly, we have a committee of six which is urgently in need of members.
“We need some middle aged people who are really committed because it's hands on job and you never know what is around the corner, the burglary is just one of the many things that come up on a daily basis but we are hopeful because we have seen that the community shows a lot of interest in getting involved," she said.
