- Kenneth and Heather Felix founded Bin Pickers Ministries, a non-profit organisation in Lotus River, to feed around 800 people weekly.
- What began as offering coffee and sandwiches to a single bin picker has grown into a community-wide initiative supported by NGOs and local residents.
- The couple also educates bin pickers on maintaining cleanliness and has seen positive changes in the neighbourhood.
A passion project that started feeding one bin picker during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has grown to provide warm meals to around 800 people per week in Lotus River.
When Kenneth Felix (72) witnessed a bin picker rummaging through the garbage on a cold morning, he offered her a cup of coffee and a sandwich.
His wife Heather (67) recalled that day: “A week before lockdown, my husband took me to work. He was home and retired and enjoying a cup of coffee outside when he noticed a lady scratching in the bin,” she said. “He asked if she had eaten anything.”
Kenneth noted that the woman wore soccer boots, which prompted him to find a decent pair of takkies. “I had a pair of takkies which we gave her and from that day, we would hand out coffee and sandwiches to her and other bin pickers.”
The pensioners have since founded the Bin Pickers Ministries, a non-profit organisation (NPO), to help feed the many hungry bin pickers in their area.
“What started off feeding four to five people grew to 25 people and 40 people. Four years later, we are still doing it but not from our house any longer because residents complained about the noise.”
Hungry
Her husband Kenneth said they realised the real hunger and need for food in the community.
said Kenneth.
While the initiative was started out of their pockets, using their pension funds, NGOs have stepped in which has allowed the couple to reach more people.
“We always paid out of our pocket but we met a woman from the Ray of Love non-government organisation (NGO) who came on board to help us with bread rolls and donations,” said Kenneth. “Ray of Love has been very good to us.”
With the help of the NPO, NGOs and community members the couple is able to feed up to 800 people a week. “When we first started, a couple in the neighbourhood heard about us and offered to make soup every Tuesday morning, up to today they kept their promise.”
Kenneth added that they have used the opportunity to educate bin pickers, to leave the area neat after picking through a bin.
“The first thing we did with the bin pickers was to educate them. We told them that whatever they dropped on the ground they should pick up and put it back,” he said.
“Secondly, bins used to disappear in the area and now it doesn’t happen anymore and the area remains clean.”
- For more info or to assist contact Heather via WhatsApp on 082 957 2441.
