More than food — Buckets of nutrition restore dignity, hope to vulnerable Nelson Mandela Bay families

By the time the first food buckets were handed out at the Missionvale Care Centre on Friday, 19 December, relief had already settled in quietly among the parents, grandparents and caregivers waiting in line. For many this was not just food – it was reassurance, dignity and the promise of getting through December with something on the table.

For Missionvale resident Susan Louw (64) the parcel filled a gap she had been worrying about as she lay awake at night. The food parcel would fill a “really big hole”.

“Now we can eat really nice over Christmas. This is really going to help me a lot. Now I can sleep peacefully at night,” she said. “As a mother you always wonder what your children are going to eat. They always want something sweet like other children. And sometimes you cannot always provide, so now there [are] some sweets and biscuits for children.”

Louw was joined in line by other families facing unemployment, illness and the quiet grind of poverty that has worsened as food prices surge and jobs remain scarce. One of them, Florida Miles (40), said the support has become a lifeline for families with children.

“There are a lot of people that do not have a lot in this time, so that would be of a great benefit for the children,” she said. “They normally give us something each year, especially soup and bread. So that [is] of great help.”

SA Harvest and Daily Maverick distributed 200 buckets of food parcels on Friday as part of this year’s annual Buckets of Nutrition campaign. They were distributed to individual households and women’s shelters, among others.

Read more: Daily Maverick and SA Harvest’s food campaign — Restoring dignity and hope this festive season

In 2023, Daily Maverick and SA Harvest started the first campaign to provide food parcels to families in Lusikisiki and surrounding areas. Last year, we distributed buckets to vulnerable families whose children were in hospital or being treated for chronic conditions.

This year, the campaign focused on families with children in holiday programmes – making sure they have enough to eat and that their families will have enough food so that they don’t have to worry about empty tummies over Christmas.

Imelda de Klerk (56) has been raising her grandson after her daughter died a few years ago. The household survives on a single Child Support Grant and the occasional income her husband is able to earn.

For more than a decade De Klerk worked consistently, but that stability ended last December when serious illness forced her to stop. Since then, she and her husband have been trying to stretch every cent.

“We are doing our best. But there are many days when it feels impossible.”

The food parcel, she said, fills a gap that no amount of careful budgeting can close. She only learnt about the programme this year.

“Had I known last year, I would definitely have come,” she said. “I am extremely thankful.”

Nearby, Renaldo Muller (21) was waiting with others from his community. He lives in a household of seven, where food shortages are a constant concern. He said December is especially difficult: school holidays mean more mouths to feed, while seasonal work is scarce and income is limited.

“At home, things are going really badly,” he said, his voice quiet but steady. “Some days, it feels like we’re barely keeping our heads above water. But we push forward, that’s all we can do. The food parcel makes a real difference. It means we can always have something on the table, even when everything else feels uncertain.”

Read more: Restoring dignity — Missionvale Care Centre turns hunger into hope

For Sandile Mati (47) the struggle is as much emotional as financial. A father of three young children, he has been out of work for some time, and the consequences extend far beyond empty cupboards.

Fighting back tears, Mati said unemployment has taken a serious toll on his self-esteem, especially as the head of the household.

“I struggle to put food on the table, and even finding money for bus fare to look for work is a challenge,” he said. “Sometimes it gets so bad that there’s nothing to eat for a whole month. Thankfully, my family and friends help when they can. But it really hurts me as the man of the house that I cannot provide for them. It breaks me every time I have to admit that I cannot take care of my family.”

Caroline Jacobs (50), who has been battling cancer and is in remission, has faced tremendous personal challenges in recent years. She lost her husband to cancer, and was then diagnosed herself by a doctor at the Missionvale Care Centre.

Jacobs, an unemployed single parent, described her recovery as slow and painful. “My food cupboards are completely empty. It is difficult to put my gratitude into words for the parcel that I have received. Without this food, I would not have made it.”

When she received the message to visit the care centre, Jacobs said she did not expect the generosity that awaited her. “I am truly thankful. I did not expect that it would be such a wonderful food parcel.”

SA Harvest chief executive Ozzy Nel said initiatives such as these highlight both the potential within marginalised communities and the deep structural failures that continue to drive hunger in South Africa.

“People need to understand the potential we have in these marginalised areas,” Nel said. He explained that SA Harvest works through community-based organisations already embedded in these communities. “We do this work with community-based organisations with incredible people that run them. We as SA Harvest are really just uplifting and empowering what they do already.”

Nel said the food insecurity crisis in South Africa exists alongside staggering levels of food waste. “We still live in a country where we know that there are almost 19 million who do not know where their next meal is coming from, yet we are sending almost 10 million tonnes of food to landfill. We encourage other large retailers, manufacturers and farmers to get involved with us and let us help them redirect that and take that excess and create real purpose and give thousands of kids a fighting chance,” he said.

Nel expressed heartfelt thanks to Daily Maverick readers for rallying behind the campaign and showing unwavering support.

Jillian Green, editor-in-chief of Daily Maverick, echoed his sentiments, thanking the publication’s readers for their generous donations, which have brought holiday relief to families in need.

“Thank you to Daily Maverick readers whose donations help us ensure families have some level of respite from the harsh realities they face,” Green said. “Your generosity means that hundreds of families will experience a little bit of Christmas cheer for a third year in a row.”

Missionvale Care Centre marketing manager, Linda van Oudheusden, said the scale of child malnutrition the care centre sees is deeply alarming, with long-term consequences that are entirely preventable.

“We are seeing many children who are significantly smaller than others their age, with serious cases of stunting,” she said. “Stunting follows a child for the rest of their life, yet it is completely avoidable with basic nutrition – especially in the first five years, which are the most critical years of development.”

In some cases the damage has progressed beyond the point of medical intervention.

“There are children I know of who have been sent back from hospital because it is simply too late. Doctors can no longer intervene because the situation has become too severe,” Van Oudheusden said.

She said community-based interventions, such as the Buckets of Nutrition, play a vital role in preventing these outcomes and restoring dignity to struggling families.

Van Oudheusden said campaigns such as the one by SA Harvest and Daily Maverick bring enormous relief and restore dignity.

“When parents or grandparents cannot provide food for their families, it weighs heavily on them,” she said. “Having the means to meet that one basic need gives them the strength to face everything else. It’s a ripple effect. It starts with a bucket, but then the child has the energy to concentrate at school, and patients can take their medication properly and live healthier lives.”

What does a Bucket of Nutrition look like?

The buckets are more expensive than last year, at R1,000 apiece. Still, they contain significantly more nutritious food products, a few treats and some cleaning materials that will be sufficient to carry families into the new year. Any donation towards a bucket will do; it isn’t necessary to contribute the full amount.

A Bucket of Nutrition contains:

• 10kg maize meal
• 5kg rice
• 2kg samp
• 500g macaroni
• 500g soup mix (dry)
• 2 × 410g tinned beans
• Baked beans
• 1 × 400g pilchards
• 500g soya mince
• 400g peanut butter
• 500g instant milk powder
• 2 × 400g tinned mixed veg
• 1kg potatoes / butternut
• 1 pack Morvite / FutureLife econ pack
• 750ml cooking oil
• 1kg sugar
• 1 × 12-pack stock cubes
• 500g salt
• 400g mixed sweets value bag
• 400g extra mixed sweets value bag
• 1 pack family biscuits
• 2 packets of jelly powder
• 750ml dishwashing liquid
• 1 laundry bar
• 1 bottle Jik / detergent (small)

How to donate

The banking details for SA Harvest are:

Please use your name, surname and “DM” as a reference. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, use only “DM” as a reference.

SA Harvest

Business Platinum Account

First National Bank

Account Number: 62693490478

Branch Code: 255955 (Randpark Ridge)

Swift: FIRNZAJJ

To donate online, please follow this link: Buckets of Hope – SA Harvest

The campaign will run until early January. DM