Youngsters excel at feeding project
Children aged 12 and 13 from the Johannesburg Mini Council (JMC) recently collected thousands of cans of tinned food for less fortunate children.
The Johannesburg Mini Council is made up of 80 Mini Councillors (grade 7 pupils) from 40 primary schools in the greater Johannesburg area. The aim of the JMC is to empower young people and build leadership through community service.
Through the Kids CAN Feed Kids campaign, which is co-sponsored by Pick n Pay, JMC members have collected over 500 tins for the children at the Elethu Themba School in Eikenhof, South of Johannesburg. Claudia Landi (13), the deputy chairperson of the special projects committee for the JMC, said she cannot wait for the holidays, but for these children, it means no food while school is closed. “For many of these children, the meals at school are the only time they get to eat. Coming from child-headed households and from the poorest of the poor, the children will eat on Friday at school but until they return to school on Monday,” she said.
The tins will be used in the food packages that will be given to the children at the end of the term. This will assist them through the December school holidays.
A further collection of cans will be donated to the Mayibuye Primary School in Tembisa, which has over 1 700 pupils, of which many come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
JMC’s big collection drive has culminated with the Kids CAN Feed Kids cooking competition. Teams of youngsters cooked at the Pick n Pay Good Food Studio for the coveted title of Kids CAN feed Kids Best Chef. The fee to enter was 10 tins of food, which were donated to the campaign.
This collection of tins from the cooking competition will be donated to Just One Bag. Started by Jordan van der Walt two years ago at the age of 12, Just One Bag has raised over 100 tons of mielie meal and has fed over one million children.
For more information, contact the chief executive officer of the JMC, Mrs Avril Rebeck on 011 485-4536 or 082 852 5804.
JMC members attended the Fellowship Dinner for Prospective 2014 Councillors. There were 350 grade 6 and 7 pupils, teachers and principals who attended. Guest speakers Harry Sideropoulos and Jordan van der Walt also attended. It was held at the HOD Centre in Orchards.
