The GRCT trustees recently received full reports from all our partners. The reports emphasised the continued struggles within the poorer communities in which our beneficiaries are based – poverty, unemployment and social issues, but also once again highlighted that the children benefit hugely from the continued e’Pap meals.
Here is some of the feedback we received:
The Hem in Vryburg is a soup kitchen run as an outreach programme by Tiger Kloof School. The GRCT funds e’Pap for children who come to the soup kitchen for meals. As a reminder of the difference that our supporters make to individual lives, one teenage boy there reported recently that it had meant so much to him to have had a place to go when he was hungry. He had visited the soup kitchen for food while he was still at a local primary school. Now he is a boarder on a bursary at Tiger Kloof School.
The Rainbow Creche in Coldstream, near St Francis Bay reported that “the children’s attention spans are longer and they are more attentive” following the introduction of e’Pap meals funded by the GRCT.
One of our partners, the NG Church in Laingsburg (which oversees the feeding of around 200 children at 5 different nursery schools), reported that: “The schools are very thankful for your support to ensure that each child gets at least one proper meal a day. The children are concentrating better after having a meal. Less children are falling ill through the year because of the e’Pap they receive at school. The e’Pap is helping to improve their immune systems”
One of our newest beneficiaries, the Place of Hope and Mercy (near Addo Elephant Park in the Sundays River Valley, Eastern Cape) said that: “We can see remarkable change in children’s development.” This is especially true of those children who come from “incredibly” poor families where food is not a daily certainty.
To echo the words of the e’Pap Children’s Feeding Project in Knysna, our oldest and largest beneficiary, in their end of year newsletter; “We come to the end of 2022 with much gratitude in our hearts. Gratitude for many children’s lives changed through being nourished by a regular bowl of e’Pap each morning. Gratitude for our faithful and dedicated volunteers, and gratitude for our host of generous donors who enable us to continue our work.”
