With some of the donated food, back, from left, are Westridge librarian Nosipho Maxalisa, Mitchell’s Plain senior environmental health practitioner Shahnaz Howell, librarians Maureen Williams and Fameda Govender, environmental health practitioner Latasha Chapman and librarians Dorian Adams and Karin Michaels. Front: Westridge senior librarian Mu-izz Hendricks and Gerome Hendriks, from Kingdom Foundation Investors in Rocklands.
A Rocklands community activist is seeking support for his initiative to feed children nutritious meals and give them a sense of belonging.
Gerome Hendriks, founder of Kingdom Foundation Investors in Rocklands, a non-profit company, received donations of groceries from Westridge library staff and environmental health practitioners during a Mandela Day function at the library on Thursday July 18.
When senior librarian Mu-izz Hendricks asked how the public could help further and what food the children liked most, Mr Hendriks said: “Peanut butter and jam has never failed. You will get the children saying they don’t eat vegetables, but we cook it in such a way that they enjoy it anyway.
"We want them to feel like they are part of a family and that they are loved and cared for."
Too many parents were feeding their drug habits instead of their children, he said.
“Parents are smoking tik in their houses the whole night without them knowing the children are inhaling the fumes and going to school high,” he said.
“I ask God for wisdom and how to deal with these children. We just want to give them a better future. The stability and something to look forward to. We want to make a difference in the lives of our children."
He said he and his wife, Charlene, fed up to 65 children before and after school from Monday to Friday in Rocklands, and about three days a week, they cooked pots of food for the needy in Mitchell’s Plain.
“We do what we can with what we have,” said Mr Hendriks.
He also offers free hospital transport to pensioners in Mitchell’s Plain. To book a ride and to donate, call him at 079 988 9296.