The Hands of Hope Soup Kitchen, held at the Methodist Church on 17 Heidelberg Road, was established on December 14, 2020, and has since grown from a limited service into a daily initiative supporting the community.

The soup kitchen now operates five days a week, from Monday to Friday, serving between 40 and 70 people each morning.

Church members, community volunteers, and private donors contribute to the daily operation, providing bread, soup, and other essentials.

Senior minister Reverend Jeffery van der Spuy said the initiative was born out of both a spiritual calling and the urgent need to address hunger during a time when many support systems had collapsed.

“We started as we were coming out of Covid. There was just such an awareness of how many people were going hungry,” he explained. “It’s a biblical call to feed the hungry.”

Hands of Hope serves a broader group. While some beneficiaries are homeless, others are individuals who travel into town in search of peace jobs and simply need a meal to get through the day.

“We always need more hands and more supplies. Sometimes we can only give two slices of bread instead of three or four. We need people to come help serve,” said Jeffery.

Hands of Hope is also connected with other organisations, working together where possible to address community needs.

Community members who would like to donate or volunteer are encouraged to get involved and support the initiative, helping to ensure that no one in the area goes hungry.

For more information, residents can contact the church office on 011 907 2807, admin@amc.org.za