The power of kindness — first 100 Buckets of Nutrition to be distributed in Gqeberha hospitals

One hundred buckets filled with healthy food, as well as treats and Christmas clothes for children and clothes for mothers, will be packed by the SA Harvest team on Thursday as we prepare to make our first round of donations at Dora Nginza Hospital and the Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital on Friday.

Several wards, including our priority, the paediatric oncology ward, will be covered in this round of donations.

A final logistics meeting was held on Wednesday and hospital officials again stressed the burdens that mothers with children in hospitals face.

Mothers with premature babies or children battling cancer often have to stay in the hospital for weeks and sometimes months. They are unable to work, and travelling and childcare increase the financial burden on already stressed families.

Thanks to a generous clothing donation for this campaign, we can assist 100 mothers and babies with brand-new Christmas outfits.

Hospital social worker Portia Marinana made herself available to help ensure the buckets reach the right mothers on Friday.

Read more: Families with children in hospital are suffering — help us give them a fighting chance

“The generosity of Daily Maverick readers in responding to the needs of others restores one’s sense of humanity in a world that is obsessed with self. Their contributions have not only filled care buckets with essential items for cancer patients and their families but also filled their hearts — and ours — with hope,” said Daily Maverick's editor-in-chief, Jillian Green.

“Thank you for your compassion and ever willingness to open your wallets to assist when it is needed most. We can ask for no better partners,” Green added.

H&M donation

Keroshan Naidoo, country HR manager at H&M, said: “At H&M we believe in creating a positive impact in the communities we call home.

“Our ongoing partnership with SA Harvest allows us to reach the most vulnerable members of society, providing relief and support where it’s needed most.

“By donating much-needed baby clothing and financial resources, we hope to make a lasting difference in the lives of vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape. We’re proud to support SA Harvest’s Buckets of Nutrition initiative to help drive meaningful change together.”

SA Harvest

Last year, Daily Maverick asked you, our readers, to help families in Lusikisiki who were struggling to feed children during the December school holidays, when the National School Nutrition Programme does not operate. We were overwhelmed by your generosity and raised R2-million for food parcels, which were still feeding families in February.

SA Harvest chief operating officer Ozzy Nel, who visited a Nelson Mandela Bay hospital on Wednesday, said he was once again struck by the enormous odds the children in the paediatric wards have to overcome to live healthy and happy lives, and what their parents have to endure.

A patient at the Paediatric Oncology outpatient unit in Gqeberha's Provincial Hospital during an outreach by the NPO Siyavuka for Kids. (Photo: Siyavuka for Kids)

“We want to give them a fighting chance,” he said. “We are eager to help as many children as possible. It was also an eye-opener for me to see wonderful women doing so much with so little.”

He said Daily Maverick’s reader response to last year’s appeal helped the organisation to feed 2,000 families.

“This year our plan is to assist vulnerable families whose children are in hospital or receiving chronic care in four provinces — many of them are children battling cancer. We are busy identifying recipients in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape as well.”

Nel said all donations are logged on the SA Harvest app, which provides donors with transparent and clear information on where their donations go. Boxer Stores is also one of the partners in the Buckets of Nutrition campaign.

Nel said SA Harvest had a strong belief in the power of the collective, transparency and working with communities on the ground. SA Harvest distributed aid on behalf of the Solidarity Fund during the 2021 KwaZulu-Natal riots and also during the floods in the province later that year. This year, it assisted with food parcels for communities in crisis after devastating floods in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Read more: Tears of gratitude as SA Harvest brings much-needed food to Nelson Mandela Bay

“Be part of something beautiful, let’s celebrate the power of kindness,” said Nel. “Sponsor a bucket. Share this message. Stand with us in creating a world where dignity and compassion shine.”

A patient at the Paediatric Oncology outpatient unit in Gqeberha's Provincial Hospital during an outreach by the NPO Siyavuka for Kids. (Photo:: Siyavuka for Kids)

How you can help

For a R500 donation, you can bless a family with a child in hospital with a bucket containing 5kg of super maize, 400g of peanut butter, salt, 2kg of rice, 100g of mutton soya mince, a packet of soup powder, a tin of pilchards, a tin of baked beans, a tin of mixed vegetables, instant maize porridge, heat-and-eat soup, split peas, samp and jam.

While the government has made great strides against malnutrition in the decades since it introduced the child grant, the amount provided is no longer sufficient. With the rise in food prices, nutrition-dense food has become particularly unaffordable.

In a written answer to a question in Parliament last week, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said that while mortality rates due to severe acute malnutrition had declined in South Africa, they remained high for an upper-middle-income country.

“In particular, newborn mortality rates and stillbirth rates have shown little decline. Improvements in children’s health and wellbeing [are] dependent on addressing the social determinants of health as children are extremely vulnerable to socioeconomic stressors, with the increased cost of food likely to result in increased malnutrition and associated mortality. In addition, limited mechanisms are in place for ensuring that services for mothers and children are protected,” he said.

How to donate

We need your help. Like last year. The situation has not been addressed. At Daily Maverick, we believe in the power of people, not politicians. You can help to give our sick and injured children a fighting chance.

Use this link for donations.

Readers can also use SA Harvest’s bank details to make a contribution. Please add DM behind your surname as a reference.

Bank details 

• Bank: FNB


• Account number: 62693490478


• Branch code: 255955


• Branch name: Randpark Ridge


• Swift Code: FIRNZAJJ

You do not have to donate the full R500 — any donation will be welcomed and used to buy buckets of nutrition for this initiative. Please mark your donation with the reference Buckets.

If you would like to send a message of support with your bucket (or donation) please email me at [email protected] with your proof of payment and your message.

Read more about Buckets of Nutrition here. DM