Valhalla organisation guarantees better days to 180 people
VCE started to take care of its community during the hard times of the 2020 lockdown. It focuses on food security for families and individuals, as well as family and fiscal empowerment.
Around 180 people living in Valhalla, Centurion depend on a local non-profit organisation to provide them with daily meals.
“Seeing families broken apart by a lack of money and resources made us focus on helping them stay together in tough times,” said Valhalla Community Empowerment (VCE) co-founder and director, Lauren Barrow.
VCE started to take care of its community during the hard times of the 2020 lockdown. It focuses on food security for families and individuals, as well as family and fiscal empowerment.
“We also provide clean pre-loved clothing in good condition and pre-loved household items to those that need them,” said Barrow.
“We actively encourage our members to look for work if they are unemployed. We have two groups to help them with this. We also try to provide neat pre-loved clothing for job interviews. Our goal is to empower our families to eventually be self-sufficient.”
The meals are provided mostly to pensioners and children, the people who rely solely on the charity for food, and weekly care packages.
Every Thursday, they have a soup kitchen for residents of Clubview, Lyttelton, Amberfeild, Wierdapark, Eldoraigne, Raslouw, Amberfield and Laudium.
The organisation also provides spiritual and secular pro bono counselling by professionals to anyone who needs it.
It also helps several patients of cancer and other severe illnesses, with counselling and additional special nutrition and provide its youngest members (under two years) with formula, baby porridge and other baby food.
Although there are times when the organisation lacks the funding to buy food, with the help of volunteers it keeps the mission alive.
It runs several special projects during the year such as a school stationery drive, a Christmas project and an Easter egg hunt.
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