SA Harvest and Chefs with Compassion are rising to the late Madiba’s call through the collective action of hundreds of chefs who are doing what they love to do as part of the #67000litres for Mandela Day Cook-a-thon.
The two organisations will prepare 67 000 litres of soup to feed the needy on Mandela Day. They say in a statement the gesture is more than just a hearty, nourishing cup of soup for thousands of hungry people.
“It is 268 000 cups of kindness, prepared with compassion by over 300 chefs in 10 cities in the spirit of Madiba’s call to ‘take action and inspire change’.”
Nutritious soup will be cooked by chefs from restaurants, hotels, cooking schools and catering operations in 10 cities, namely Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban, Mokopane, Rustenburg, Vereeniging, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit providing meals for 268 000 people.
Chef Coo Pillay, the National Project Manager of Chefs with Compassion, says they have been overwhelmed by the response from chefs, sponsors, markets and suppliers all over South Africa.
“The spirit of Mandela is alive and well in the hospitality industry, despite the challenges we are facing. Since 6 April 2020, Chefs with Compassion has provided meals to over 400 000 people through its extensive network of compassionate chefs,” he added.
Chefs with Compassion and SA Harvest are calling on all South Africans to join them in an incredible Mandela Day journey by helping them to continue their work of providing meals to poverty-stricken communities in South Africa.
All it takes is a donation of R10 per meal. To donate R10 per meal go to https://chefswithcompassion.org.za/67000-litres-for-mandeladay/
“Even before this pandemic, 13 million South African men, women and children went to bed hungry. Now its 18 million! Against this backdrop, consider that 10 million tons of food goes to waste every year.
“SA Harvest is creating a food rescue and distribution platform that will ultimately enable us to realise our mission to ensure that every South African is able to access adequate nutritious food on a daily basis,” says Ozzy Nel, Operations Manager of SA Harvest.
On Saturday from 14:00 over 300 chefs in 10 cities, will be cooking soup with surplus produce rescued by SA Harvest and Chefs with Compassion. 67 000 litres of soup are handed over to over 80 beneficiary organisations around the country.
As the grand finale to the massive 67 000 litres Cook-a-thon for Mandela Day, food trucks in the three major centres will travel in convoy to deliver the soup to vulnerable communities, along with SA Harvest’s trucks.
Follow the #67000litres journey from 06:00 to 14:30 tomorrow on https://www.facebook.com/chefswithcompassion and https://www.facebook.com/saharvest using the hashtags #67000litres #MandelaDay #chefswithcompassion #saharvest.
Heidre Malgas
