Connect to Feed spreads love and happiness to children on Valentine’s Day
On a weekend when many would celebrate love with flowers and chocolates, Connect to Feed chose a different path, bringing vegetable noodles, school stationery, lunch boxes, and big smiles to dozens of children at Good Hope Ikhayalethu.
While many spent their Saturday celebrating Valentine’s Day with romantic gestures, the team at Connect to Feed non-profit organisation, demonstrated a deeper, more selfless form of love, one rooted in community support.
The NPO, built on six years of community service, brought their latest donation drive to Good Hope Ikhayalethu (GHI) in East Bank, Alexandra.
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GHI has spent over a decade serving as a lifeline for Alexandra residents who have little to no means at all, especially those who would regularly make use of the nearby East Bank Clinic.
“When some residents leave the clinic, especially those on ARVs, they would knock on my door looking for something to eat because they want to take their medicine,” founder Duduzile Mnguni said.
It was this persistent knocking and the heartbreaking need behind it that inspired Mnguni to establish the centre. More than 10 years later, GHI continues to provide meals and essential support to the less fortunate in the community, although it survives solely on Mnguni’s pension grant.
@caxtonjoburgnorth Watch: Founder of Connect to Feed, Upama Srivastava, reveals that the aim of their Saturday donation drive is to serve 200 children at Good Hope Ikhayalethu Centre with vegetable noodles and stationery. #Alex #Johannesburg ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North
Despite her limitless love for her community, Mnguni admitted her resources are not unlimited. This reality made Connect to Feed’s intervention especially timely and impactful.
“We cooked vegetable noodles, [which] are very healthy for the kids and their lunch boxes,” said Connect to Feed founder Upama Srivastava.
“As the new year has just started, we are also helping the kids with stationery. We have distributed 200 stationery items, lunch boxes and some candies.”
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True to its tagline, Connect to Feed lived up to its mission of spreading happiness. Dozens of children at GHI received the donations with smiles, turning an ordinary Saturday into a memorable one filled with gratitude.
“Our goal as a team is to spread happiness as much as we can and to help those in need. Underprivileged children often lack even the most necessary necessities of life. We want to provide them with whatever they need, the essentials, so they can focus on educating themselves,” Srivastava explained.
Mnguni expressed appreciation for the support. “We are very grateful. We have been in desperate need of something like this. Their donation drive here made me so happy. I am truly thankful that they came to help.”
She highlighted how Connect to Feed’s generosity arrived at a critical moment when her centre’s resources were stretched thin.
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