Cape Town - To commemorate Women’s Day, Ladles of Love celebrated and acknowledged local women who have been hard at work running feeding scheme initiatives in efforts to uplift and support their communities since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The organisation, which is known for its innovative fundraising events that seek to benefit the less fortunate, said for women’s month this year it wanted to pay tribute to and acknowledge the efforts of women who are running programmes and projects in support of their neighbours who have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ladles of Love founder Danny Diliberto said: “As much as we get credit for the work that we do, I must say we wouldn’t be able to function properly if it were not for the women who we work with.
“These women selflessly do so much work daily to feed and support people in need. Without them, we wouldn’t know who to feed. They are an essential part of our operation, and that is why we want to celebrate and acknowledge them today. They are warriors and deserve this much and more.”
Diliberto said in commemoration of Women’s Day, members of the organisation had hiked and hosted a sandwich drive and would be handing out gift packs to women throughout the week.
One of the women being celebrated by Ladles of Love this month is 43-year-old Tamara Mlumbi, also known as Nicky. Mlumbi runs a soup kitchen from a shack in Gugulethu and works to feed more than 650 people a day on the three days her kitchen is open to the public.
Mlumbi, who created Nicky’s Soup Kitchen last year amid the coronavirus pandemic to help her own family when she became unemployed, says her journey began by her helping her cousin with her soup kitchen in Nyanga.
“This has been such an amazing journey. I’m both grateful and overwhelmed with the work we are doing and how much we are helping people. Currently, we feed people from Inkanana, Barcelona and Gugulethu - that’s three communities.
“We help everyone we can, from pensioners to children, and my dream is to grow this initiative, to get more sponsors and assistance, so we can continue to help those in need. It is a huge help receiving food donations from Ladles. I know that without their help, I would never be able to feed so many people,” said Mlumbi.
Mlumbi also works with the young boys in her community, who help her to deliver food to the elderly who can’t come on their own. The teens also serve as safety marshals to ensure Covid protocols are adhered to at the soup kitchen.