The Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit buzzed with activity on July 19, from 09:00 to 15:00, as hundreds of South Africans and businesses gathered for the Ladles of Love Mandela Day event.

Under the theme: It’s In Your Hands, It’s in Our hands, teams and individuals volunteered two hours to support children in need at flagship events at Kyalami and DHL Stadium in Cape Town. Attendees paid R250 for access, then chose from four activity zones, including make, create, craft, or grow.

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Yolanda Jones, the organisation’s programme director, explained that team volunteering on Mandela Day aims to build community, boost workplace wellness, and foster the culture of ubuntu. “We are here. We are making things for children in our early childhood development (ECD) centres. We are making books and posters, making nutrition boxes, the beautiful, delicious sandwiches that they are making over here, and then, also, buckets of hope.

@caxtonjoburgnorth Ladles of Love Mandela Day programme director Yolanda Jones explains the purpose of the Ladles of Love Mandela Day event hosted at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on July 18, 2025. #Mandeladay #kyalamigrandprixcircuit ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North

“There are so many opportunities for people to get involved and to come and make things for children in our safe schools. We support just over 7 000 children across three provinces: Gauteng, Western Cape, and the Northern Cape, so this support today is about getting resources to ECD centres, and also to make sure that children get the proper nutrition.”

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Ladles of Love is a non-profit organisation that grew exponentially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, it has provided over 48 million meals to people in need. Today, the organisation focuses on nurturing, nourishing, and growing over 7 500 small children at preschools in underserved communities. Their Nourish Our Children programme supports principals by uplifting and training teachers on good nutrition.

“At Ladles of Love, we believe volunteering is more than just a good deed; it’s a civic duty and a powerful form of active citizenship,” continued Jones. “The upside of this is the joy and happiness that doing good brings to people who love physically doing something meaningful that will make a difference to a little one in need.

“People are paying R250 to come out here to volunteer, and they get to do an activation with us for two hours, but that R250 supports a child for an entire month, with two nutritious meals a day.”

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Sintie van Schalkwyk, from Bounty Food and Care, said Mandela Day is a very valuable day, especially for the children, giving back to the community, and celebrating the legacy of Mandela.

Jodi Law, Wimpy South Africa’s brand manager, noted their partnership with Ladles of Love aligns with their goal to promote multilingual education for South African children.

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