Waves For Change and the Lunchbox Fund team up to provide food for kids
Today, children participating in the Waves for Change (W4C) programme at the Monwabisi site enjoyed a hot, nutrition packed, post-surf meal, thanks to a new partnership with The Lunchbox Fund.
United by our commitment to help improve the lives of at-risk children from Township communities in South Africa, Lunchbox Fund will provide ongoing nutritional support to W4C, ensuring that each child attending our after-school programme will receive a delicious meal fortified with a wide range of macro and micro-nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
The scheme is being introduced at Monwabisi (Monwa), the largest of the W4C programmes and the only site to have cooking facilities. A full range of food will be delivered monthly allowing Sis Mandi, Monwa’s resident cook, to prepare a rotating menu of delicious and healthy meals for the 400+ children who attend each week.
Speaking about their involvement with W4C, Sue Wildish, Managing Director of The Lunchbox Fund commented:
“W4C do such wonderful and essential work by teaching these vulnerable children how to cope with the significant mental stress that is part of their daily lives. Hungry children cannot focus, absorb and learn. They have no energy to play. A hot meal can change all that. It improves behaviour and mood, give the child stamina and energy, and as importantly – allows them to have fun without worrying where their next meal is coming from.”
Monwa Site Manager Lunga Sidzumo spoke of the effect the food will have:
“We are immensely grateful to The Lunchbox Fund. This food will ensure that our children, most of whom live in extreme poverty with little or no access to food – let alone food with the right nutritional requirements – will receive a comprehensive meal when they attend our programme. It is hard to put value on this, most of the kids are subject to extreme hunger which impacts their attention and behaviour. These meals will go a long way in keeping them fuller for longer, which will not only help their performance here at W4C, but will also help them at concentrate at school.”
The issue of malnutrition is significant for children living in South Africa, with almost 60% living below the poverty line, that equates to over 12 million children who are in need of nutritional support. 26% of children suffer from stunting due to malnourishment.
Lunchbox Fund and W4C’s goal is to provide nutrition to each of the four W4C sites operating in South Africa by the end of the year, reaching close to 1000 children each week.
@WavesForChange #SurfTherapy
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