A Maitland couple is on a mission to make sure vulnerable people in their community are fed.
Dawid van Wyk says for him and his wife Belinda it’s about paying it forward because “there was a time we endured hardships too”.
Van Wyk explains that the idea was started by his wife who used to cook for the local church but later decided to start cooking on her own.
“A few years ago, she started making Sunday lunch for those in need. Lunch on a Sunday is served at 13:30. With the start of the hard lockdown, we decided to make porridge for people in the morning. We do this Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
He says the number of people grew quickly and they soon ended up feeding about 50 people in the morning.
Van Wyk explains that although most of the ingredients for their feeding scheme comes from own pockets, they have managed to get some partners on board. They include Play Sport 4 Life and a mosque in Pinelands Islamic Centre.
He says residents and friends also supply them with donations.
“The Mosque in Pinelands prepares the food, then all we do is distribute it here at home from Monday to Friday. Play Sport 4 Life supplies us with things like vegetables which we also distribute to the people.”
Resident Russel Steenkamp says he assists the Van Wyk’s as he too has a passion for helping people.
“On a Sunday we do a prayer with the people and then we give them their lunch. It is always nice to see how grateful people are for the meal they receive.”
Steenkamp says for the past 14 years he has been distributing meals to vulnerable people on the last Sunday before Christmas.
“I do this because it could have been me or my family in that same position. Where we can help, we should.”
Van Wyk says: “We will give for as long as we can. We know what it is like to not have anything. We have been through a rough patch ourselves so, this is about giving back. We are just happy we can do it.”
He says they always welcome donations. “When we get more than we need, we distribute those to people.”
