Scout troop leader’s soup drive

Vincent Campbell, 1st Honeydew Scout troop leader, had planned to feed 100 people as part of his Scouts food drive on July 21 but due to the number of donations and support he received this number increased exponentially.

According to Campbell, the initiative was sparked after the week of civil unrest in South Africa which led to a surge in food prices in underprivileged communities such as Cosmo City.
He said “I was listening to the radio and I heard about all the amazing things people were doing to help since the recent unrest, looting and rioting and thought Scouts should be helping out because we are all about helping the community and making the world a better place.”

After going through what would be possible with his Scout group leaders, he decided on hosting a food drive and donating blankets to the community. More than 500 cups of soup and blankets were given to those in need.

In addition to feeding many people, Campbell was also proud to have spread the word about Scouts and what they do.
“The highlight of my day was that the community loved what they learnt about Scouts through us that day, so much that they actually wanted to bring Scouts into the community.
“The community believes that Scouts could help the youth of that area and we would do whatever we can to help this materialise.”

Campbell’s initiative formed part of a series of projects he needed to organise and host to be eligible to receive the highest Scout’s honour, the Springbok award.
Campbell acknowledged that the day was only made possible by the support and assistance of many including Cosmo City community leader Bosman Tlali. According to Campbell, Tlali was a great community relations officer as he helped organise people to help hand out the food, law enforcement and ensure all went well on the day.

Saint Michael’s Anglican Church, Food Lover’s Market Lifestyle Centre and Pick n Pay Summerfield supported the project by donating food and ingredients used to make the soup, while Westpack Lifestyle donated the cups for the soup. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was also thanked for availing their premises to host the initiative.

Campbell was also extremely grateful to his fellow Scouts, Gareth Reuben, Aidan Hewson, Michael Badenhorst, Luke Bridle and Neo and Naledi Mokgawa for helping him.
Rand Park High School also supported the project by sharing the initiative’s details with learners and their families and Marcell Leite who made a monetary donation.