An Eastridge couple have grown their feeding scheme by moving into a yellow container based on Swartklip Road, across from Lost City.
Skye’s Wooden Spoon Feeding was started in 2017 and named after the 12-year-old son of Radiant Sasman and Zita Petersen. At the time it was based at their Eastridge home.
Ms Petersen said her son would come home and say: “Mommy I’m hungry, but we knew he was fed. He was asking for his friends and children outside.”
They feed every Monday and Wednesday at their home and every Tuesday and Thursday at Vosho informal settlement, in Monwabisi Park, at about 3pm.
Ms Petersen said there was a great need for food in their community.
She said many of the people they were feeding before the national Covid-19 lockdown had been hit even harder with further unemployment and reduced salaries.
Ms Petersen has a full time job and had been footing the food bill with her own money.
“We feed about 300 people every other day but it is growing,” she said.
“For many this is their only meal for the day. It is sad for me to turn people away and say sorry, there is no more food,” she said.
They received a yellow shipping container in February and have drawn up plans to establish an early childhood development (ECD) centre to help service children who come from low-income families to form a playgroup programme, for children aged between three and five, including daycare and after-care.
Ms Petersen said there were many social ills around them and that they were doing their best to assist.
They have three women preparing and cooking food daily and they have a party planning and decor company to help supplement the feeding scheme.
They have also enlisted the services of general practitioner (GP) Dr Siyabonga Ndlumbini, based at Watergate Mall, in Lentegeur, who sees any child, who receives food from Skye’s Wooden Spoon, for free.
Ms Petersen said as they become more established, the doctor may come to the Vosho site every fortnight.
She has been distributing their business plan to donors in the hope of having up to 40 children attend the ECD.
Ms Petersen said it made her happy to see peoples’ facial expressions on receipt of the food but she was sad when she had to turn people away.
They have limited equipment, pots, strainers, gas, ingredients and would be grateful for any form of assistance. For more information call Ms Petersen on 083 748 4055 or email zitapetersen@yahoo.com