Tembisa youth unite to feed hungry residents

One of TLS’s volunteers giving food to a little girl. Photo: Supplied

The organisation – made up of nine young members and volunteers – is committed to ensuring that hungry townships residents get a really decent meal every month.

Led by Sizwe Ntshangase, 27, The Last Supper (TLS) saw a need for support for non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) and non-profit organisations (NPO’s) that often rely on donations from the community.

Children at the Tembisa Child and Family Welfare Society taking part in activities organised by TLS. Photo: Supplied

“We realised that a lot of children’s homes, hospices and welfare centres were crowded with people who barely got to experience any one-on-one love and attention. We committed ourselves to fight hunger by donating meals to the hungry.”

Beneficiaries

TLS provides healthy meals to various organisations that care for different members of the community.

“Apart from providing meals to vulnerable children, we also feed adults from an organisation that cares for the disabled, unemployed widows and the homeless. The number of people we feed usually depends on the centre we are feeding at that time. We usually feed up to 80 beneficiaries.”

The initial group of four was later joined by five volunteers who share the same passion for the community as they do.

“Getting the community involved has been a challenge but we managed to get five volunteers who are always available when we need them. They assist us with the preparation of the food since we feed large groups of people. They also assist us when we do renovations at some of the centres.”

Challenge

Ntshangase further stated that running the organisation had been a challenge due to a lack of support from various stakeholders.

“Things have been difficult, but our commitment to bettering the lives of our community has kept us motivated. We will keep on knocking on doors because we believe that with enough support from government and corporates, we will be able to feed more people more than once a month.”

TLS hopes to one day be able to build a children’s home which will provide sports, science and mathematics facilities because there are currently no facilities like this available at existing centres that house vulnerable children in Tembisa. – Health-e News.

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