Shelter project extends support to needy families
Pastor Jason Currie of the Hope on These Streets feeding scheme, one of the organisations under the The Ark umbrella along with local churches, charities and organisations, spearheaded an initiative to establish a food bank to help the needy in the interim as government rolls out its food parcels project
WHILE addressing the plight of homeless people in the City of uMhlathuze amid the Covid-19 lockdown, The Ark project found that many locals were also without food in their homes.
Pastor Jason Currie of the Hope on These Streets feeding scheme, one of the organisations under the The Ark umbrella along with local churches, charities and organisations, spearheaded an initiative to establish a food bank to help the needy in the interim as government rolls out its food parcels project.
Met with multiple challenges over the past three weeks, the project and its volunteers have persevered and three shelters for the homeless were established and hundreds of food parcels and prepared meals distributed.
‘As the requests for help grew, so we had to step up efforts and trolleys were set up at Richards Bay Pick and Pay and Checkers for collections.
‘Drop sites are coming to Empangeni and we are collecting dry food items for food parcels.
‘On 12 April we packed and sent out 350 food parcels to families in Richards Bay, Empangeni, eSikhawini, Nseleni and Mzingazi.
‘Our amazing team of volunteers drove far and wide to deliver, working through six NGOs which combined databases to ensure there were no duplications on addresses and food got to homes where it was needed the most,’ said Currie.
‘We have been able to donate another 100 food parcels last week and going forward, we are looking to do a once a week delivery of 200-300 food parcels to families in need.
‘People and companies have been incredibly generous and while not everyone has been able to get to our trolley drop sites, monetary donations enabled us to continue making an impact.
‘Since lockdown we have received R95 000 in donations, which is being used to care for those in shelters and for food parcels.
‘We are thankful for every donation, no matter how small or big, as it has helped us to shelter the homeless and feed the hungry.
‘We are continuously asked what will happen post lockdown and we are not sure. But we pray that this initiative will lead to a more permanent shelter and rehab facility within our district so that when the storm is over we can continue to help people build a better future,’ Currie said.
Donor list for ARK (homeless shelter and food hamper drive)
* Checkers Richards Bay
* Hillside Aluminium
* One Stop Water
* Bay Fruit & Veg
* Empangeni Muslim Community
* Spar Meerensee
* RichBay Chemicals
* Caltex Brackenham
* Schutte’s meat products
* Van Zyl Connections
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