A third of all food in South Africa ends up in landfills, while more than 14 million people go hungry. Shocking data should motivate everyone to donate regularly to charity if they're able to do so. There are many worthy causes across our country doing good things for humanity, here are 5 top Cape Town charities that you can support.
Food Forward SA
Food Forward SA was established in 2009 to address widespread hunger in South Africa. They recover quality edible surplus food from the consumer goods supply chain and distribute it to community organizations that serve the poor. More than 80% of the food recovered is nutritious.
How you can help:
Volunteer - a crucial yet fun way to give back to the community and an opportunity to team build via corporate volunteering.
Donate - R50 covers 2 meals daily per month for someone in need.
Organize a food drive - Food Forward SA appreciates all kinds of non-perishable food items.
Purchase a Bonhappi-T from their online store.
The Haven Night Shelter
The Haven Night Shelter has 15 safe houses around the city and provides a safe place to sleep for homeless people in Cape Town. There is an R12 fee, but you can "Buy a bed" for R60 to cover the fee for one person for five nights. You can also feed 10 people when you donate R50 to the #soupforsolidarity campaign.
Their vision and mission are to make sure that homeless people find their way back home. They offer temporary shelter rehabilitation opportunities including social welfare services, family reunification services, physical care, and support to adults who are committed to getting back home.
Help a Girl, Help a Girl
https://m.facebook.com/helpagirlhelpagirlza
Help a Girl, Help a Girl is a Non-Profit Organisation that aims to provide Mentoring and Training Programmes to young girls in the greater Cape Flats Region.
Their goal is to foster a commitment to young girls that will promote skills training, socio-economic empowerment, poverty alleviation, social cohesion and most importantly enforcing and restoring the dignity of underprivileged young women by instilling inter and intrapersonal skills.
Our core mission is to mobilize women to empower other women and girls and to provide a platform to facilitate the interaction of developmental relationships. Another goal of their Programme is to offer a positive support system to assist in the pitfalls that young women may come across that might derail their lives.
You can help by contributing to their dignity parcels and workshops aimed at empowering young women.
Lionel Smit
https://www.lionelsmitstudio.com/giving-back/
The less fortunate in our country needs a helping hand now more than ever and that is why world-renowned artist and sculptor Lionel Smit has chosen a range of printed editions with all the proceeds going to non-profit organizations. When you purchase one of the prints in the charity collection you make a direct contribution to those who need it the most. Organizations that benefit from these charity sales are Child Welfare Helderberg, Patch Helderberg, and Heartlands Baby Sanctuary.
Other charities that Lionel supports are:
Tears Animal Rescue
TEARS Animal Rescue is one of the country’s leading animal welfare organizations and provides sanctuary for animals in need, working to end homelessness, neglect, and abuse in the community. They offer their help through medical assistance, humane education, rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming.
They provide free sterilisations and subsidised veterinary care for low-income communities. They also have a mobile clinic, cattery, and kennels. You can donate and save a furry friend.