Cape Town - Kuilsriver good Samaritan Latifah Jacobs is hoping to spread festive cheer on Christmas day with the Donate-A-Plate campaign, in which lunch donations are served to those who cannot enjoy a warm meal on the day.
Jacobs, together with the Kuilsriver Community Action Network and Ithemba Giving Hope organisations, need help in making Christmas special for the vulnerable in their communities who under other circumstances are not be able to share a plate of food around a lunch table.
Jacobs and her team of community volunteers are urging those who would cook big lunches, to spare a plate.
“Although this has been a tough year, the desire of people wanting to help is still there. They have a passion for wanting to give but the reality is that they are still fearful, as am I, during this second wave. The plan is to get donations of plates of food that you would ordinarily serve to your family on Christmas.
“These ‘plates’ can be donated to the campaign for distribution on Christmas day from my home. We serve food throughout the year to the vulnerable but for this campaign we want them to enjoy something that they would not usually eat,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs said while other feeding stations in the community will not operate on the day, they are looking forward to the campaign as donation confirmations have streamed in steadily.
“People have been responding well to the donation campaign confirming their intended contributions. Daily we serve about 400 to 500 people and we expect the same totals for this campaign. We know that our beneficiaries do not have families that they can go to on the day to share at a lunch table with for a variety of reasons including the fact that most of them will only receive their grant payments after the 25th,” said Jacobs.
Recently, Jacobs received a 12m container donation which she intends to continue her community upliftment projects which centres especially around the economic empowerment of women.
“I would like to renovate the space to make it conducive for such programmes to continue and the short term goal now is to have a sliding door fitted as well as windows installed. The future plan is to have this run as a small recreational hub for the people of the community,” said Jacobs.
Donors for the Donate-A-Plate campaign have been asked to dish their donations in a container such as styrofoam boxes or ice cream tubs and donations can be dropped off at 27 Lovebird Walk, Sunbird Park in Blue Downs.
If you would like to donate, contact Latifah Jacobs on 071 589 3409.
Cape Times