Unemployed north woman’s soup kitchen for children struggling to survive
The 23-year-old who resides in zone 7 launched the after-school soup kitchen called Warona Soup Kitchen.
The desire to make a difference in the community of Ga-Rankuwa has prompted Gaisamang Mgijima to start a soup kitchen which now feeds more than 100 children.
The 23-year-old who resides in zone 7 launched the after-school soup kitchen called Warona Soup Kitchen or #freecupofsoupforkids in June.
Due to being unemployed, Mgijima is unable to feed more children despite the increasing numbers of need.
She is now looking for any sort of donations to lend a helping hand to grow her soup kitchen and accommodate more needy children.
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Mgijima who does her work of compassion free of charge, said the smiles on the face of the children after a warm meal is rewarding enough for her.
“Their smiles make it worthwhile when we serve them soup” said Mgijima.
The programme runs three times a week, Tuesdays to Thursdays.
Mgijima’s call for donations came after realising that more children were in need. But with limited resources, she was not able to cope as the numbers had sky-rocketed to just more than a hundred children.
Because of this, Mgijima was forced to turn away some children, which she said was heart-breaking.
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On a weekly basis, she said that she spent about R200 on ingredients and disposable cups but this was taking a toll on her as she had no fixed income.
Mgijima said there were no problems when she started. She only realised the enormity of the project when the numbers swelled.
“I wish to extend my programme to reach out to all children in Ga-Rankuwa who are in need of a warm meal and see a change in the community by ensuring they do not go to bed on a hungry stomach,” she said.
Mgijima, who runs her service from a street corner, said she was looking for anyone who could help her buy more ingredients, stoves and hopefully build her a structure so she can accommodate more children.
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“We need to increase our ingredients, equipment like gas stoves and big pots and hopefully build a proper structure to accommodate more children. We are inviting everyone to support our feeding programme and any kind of donation will go a long way,” said Mgijima.
Hopeful for any assistance, Mgijima said she would not drop the project for anything as it had given her new meaning.
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