As most of you might know by now, due to this awful COVID-19 pandemic, PSFA had to unfortunately cancel our popular fundraising event Blisters for Bread during 2020 and then again this year. Our 53^rd Blisters for Bread would have taken place this year on Sunday 29 August.

Blisters for Bread is a very important event for PSFA for the following reasons:

• It creates vital awareness of childhood hunger at schools hence keeping the work done by PSFA to address this challenge, in the hearts and minds of the South African community.
• Over 13 000 people walk every year – the event raises an average of R680 000.00 per annum through entry fees. 100% of this money is allocated to feeding hungry schoolchildren.

To commemorate Blisters for Bread, PSFA staff, representatives from our general committee and their families gathered together near the Mouille Point Lighthouse on Sunday 29 August at 9am, to walk from the lighthouse along the Sea Point Promenade to the Presidents Hotel and back again.
After completing the walk, each person was presented with a bag filled with goodies kindly sponsored by Good Hope International Beverages, Sneaker LAB and Outside the Bowl.
This activity was a great opportunity for the staff to have fun together and honour Blisters for Bread, a PSFA annual event that first took place in 1958.
 

In honour of Youth Day held on June 16, the staff at M-Kem 24 Hour Pharmacy in Bellville decided to knit scarves for schoolchildren affected by poverty who attend Parow Valley Primary School.

On Wednesday 18 August, staff members of M-KEM presented Mrs Marinda Carrol, the acting principal at Parow Valley Primary and a group of her colleagues with the colourful scarves lovingly knitted by the M-KEM staff. Mrs Carrol and her team will select the neediest children on PSFA’s feeding programme to each be given a scarf.

In addition to the scarves, M-KEM directors, Leigh Hershaw and Gill Watson presented our fundraising manager, Charles Grey with a cheque for PSFA in the amount of R16 000. This donation will enable PSFA to provide 32 hungry schoolchildren with daily breakfasts and lunches for a calendar year – for this, we are truly grateful!

Youth Day in South Africa is a day to honour the courage and sacrifice of the Soweto Uprising youth and celebrate all young people. Youth Day means acknowledging the sacrifices of the 1976 youth who fought for our freedom during the apartheid era and the improvement of our education system.

The staff at M-KEM showing off the scarves they knitted for the learners at Parow Valley Primary.

In honour of Youth Day held on June 16, the staff at M-Kem 24 Hour Pharmacy in Bellville decided to knit scarves for schoolchildren affected by poverty who attend Parow Valley Primary School.

On Wednesday 18 August, staff members of M-KEM presented Mrs Marinda Carrol, the acting principal at Parow Valley Primary and a group of her colleagues with the colourful scarves lovingly knitted by the M-KEM staff. Mrs Carrol and her team will select the neediest children on PSFA’s feeding programme to each be given a scarf.

In addition to the scarves, M-KEM directors, Leigh Hershaw and Gill Watson presented our fundraising manager, Charles Grey with a cheque for PSFA in the amount of R16 000. This donation will enable PSFA to provide 32 hungry schoolchildren with daily breakfasts and lunches for a calendar year – for this, we are truly grateful!

Youth Day in South Africa is a day to honour the courage and sacrifice of the Soweto Uprising youth and celebrate all young people. Youth Day means acknowledging the sacrifices of the 1976 youth who fought for our freedom during the apartheid era and the improvement of our education system.

Staff at M-Kem show of the scarves they knitted for the underprivileged learners at Parow Valley Primary.

Mr M (Mallach), the founder and owner of M-Kem 24 Hour Pharmacy knitting a scarf.

Thanks to a generous personal donation made by Cape Town businessman David Delbridge, the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA) was able to hand over its 126th brand new kitchen to a school on the Association’s feeding programme.

The school to receive this kitchen was Spurwing Primary School in Eerste River. Spurwing Primary joined PSFA’s feeding programme in April 2000. PSFA provides 506 learners affected by poverty attending this school with daily cooked breakfasts and lunches. The learners come from Eerste River, Blue Downs, Electric City, Mfuleni and Khayelitsha.

On Thursday 12 August 2021, representatives from PSFA, Spurwing Primary, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and PSFA’s infrastructure partner, Breadline Africa attended a special ceremony where PSFA’s director, Petrina Pakoe officially handed over the keys to the kitchen to Quinton Abrahams, principal of Spurwing Primary. They were joined by Andile Magodla, WCED circuit manager for Circuit 5. The guests and, to the delight of the learners attending the ceremony, were treated to a host of fun acts presented by performers from the Zip Zap Circus.
After all the formalities, the special guests were invited to a luncheon and while enjoying their meal, were treated to song and dance performances by the learners from Spurwing Primary, and more great entertainment provided by the performers from the Zip Zap Circus.

Quinton Abrahams, principal at Spurwing Primary said “on behalf of our school governing body, staff, learners and community, I want to thank Mr David Delbridge, PSFA and Breadline Africa for our new fully fitted kitchen. The challenge that we currently face is that we have very limited kitchen resources and space to serve daily meals to 100’s of learners. This new kitchen will without a doubt, alleviate these challenges and will improve the working conditions and environment for our food preparers.”

The state-of-the-art 20m² prefabricated kitchen is wind and airtight and is fitted with a double sink, stainless steel worktop, extractor fan, cupboards for storage, security gate and windows with burglar proofing which doubles as a serving hatch. Hot water and gas were connected, and the required firefighting equipment was installed in case of fire.

“PSFA is extremely delighted to be able to present Spurwing Primary with this much-needed kitchen facility. Feeding schoolchildren is PSFA’s core service but we occasionally receive special requests and funding from our donors to be allocated to the construction and supply of new kitchens to the schools on our feeding programme – for this, we are sincerely grateful” says Petrina Pakoe, director of PSFA.

Quinton Abrahams, principal at Spurwing Primary addressing the special guests.

Performers from the Zip Zap Circus entertaining the guests.

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Learners and dancers from Spurwing Primary in their cultural attire.

Petrina Pakoe, director of PSFA, showing off the new kitchen’s expandable tap and double basin to PSFA’s volunteer food preparers, from left to right, Mymoena Matthews, Doreen Titus, Angeline Hans and Mercia Steenkamp.

#education #community #volunteering #school #youcanteachahungrychild #feedingscheme #partnershipsmatter

We are pleased to announce that WNDYR is partnering with the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA) to combat child hunger in Cape Town, South Africa.
As WNDYR and Pattyrn’s co-founders, Claire and I have always been passionate about accelerating humans in the future of work. We understand that in order to accomplish this, grassroots education is critical. Having access to a meal brings children to school which in turn encourages learning that will impact their (and our) future. That’s why, for every new WNDYR customer, we will be sponsoring a schoolchild to receive 2 meals a day at school, for a year, through PSFA.

This nonprofit currently feeds 25,775 hungry learners across 165 education institutions. Meanwhile, our donations will go towards helping PSFA expand its feeding program to help more children and young adults in:

• Educational institutions
• Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDC’s)
• Orphans & Vulnerable Children (OVC) Safe Parks
• Technical Vocational Education & Training (TVET) colleges

To provide more context on what children are undergoing in Cape Town, three out of four go to school hungry every day. Without the nourishment they need, these children can’t concentrate in class. They fight to retain information, and they suffer painful stomach cramps. Meanwhile, 30% of the total Cape Town population lives in poverty and with food insecurity.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of this problem don’t end here. Children who experience long-term nutrition deficits face irreversible health problems in their futures and adult lives. These health problems range across poor immune systems, frequent illness, and a greater risk of life-threatening diseases. It’s too great of a burden for children to bear, and without intervention, it’ll have serious consequences for their tomorrow.

So why is WNDYR joining this vital mission? The WNDYR team strives to be more than a professional service; it seeks to change the very way we work and contribute to a better future for all. Where the need exists, we want to help these malnourished learners get the sustenance they need to thrive in their personal, educational, and professional lives. Together, we’ll be making a difference – all thanks to you.

About WNDYR & Pattyrn

The future of work is now. 
WNDYR will teach your employees how to work smarter using tools that enhance collaboration and identify unnecessary barriers. Our mission is to break the legacy behaviors before they destroy your teams’ professional productivity and personal health. Your team leaders will learn how to help themselves by accessing data-driven insights exclusively found in Pattyrn. Valuable insights that would be nearly impossible to find on your own.
Pattyrn identifies trends across multiple platforms – email, calendars, tasks, video conferencing, workflow management – and benchmark the combined results so each individual team member can learn to grow as individuals, as leaders and in comparison to their peers in the marketplace overall. We can do better together.

About PFSA

PSFA is a registered non-profit organisation that addresses hunger in young learners attending primary, secondary, and special needs schools. It also works with Orphaned & Vulnerable Children Centres (OVCs), Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs), and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVETS). PSFA’s main aims are to reduce short-term hunger, enhance children’s ability to learn through school feeding, and increase school attendance. PSFA has to date provided over 1,8 billion nutritious meals to hungry school children. You can’t teach a hungry child, and that’s why 100% of all donations are directed exclusively to the actual cost of school feeding.

We are delighted to announce that PEP, South Africa’s largest single brand retailer, offering a wide range of products and services at affordable prices, has shown its support for PSFA in the battle against childhood hunger at schools.

Anita Carollisen, Chief Executive: People Support says “PEP understands the importance of education and remains committed to finding new ways of encouraging learning, giving hope and making a positive impact. Our efforts are always underpinned by PEP’s purpose of making it possible for everyone to look and feel good. We are pleased to be able to offer our support to PSFA and the great work that they do.”

PEP awarded PSFA a generous donation to the value of R300 000 in respect of the adopt-a-school feeding initiative.
A total of 606 learners affected by poverty in our feeding programme will be reached through this donation. This will enable PSFA to provide daily nutritious cooked breakfasts and lunches for an entire calendar year as follows:

• 130 learners at Stratford Primary in Eerste River
• 200 learners at Surrey Primary in Surrey Estate
• 135 learners at Newfields Primary in Athlone
• 141 learners at Elswood High in Elsies River

The donation will also cover the cost to supply the above schools with cooking gas as and when required.
“PSFA welcomes PEP to our donor family. We are truly grateful that this giant South African retail company which believes that education is crucial to the future of our country, has made the strategic decision to invest in the feeding of learners at school because you can’t teach a hungry child” says Petrina Pakoe, director of PSFA.

Suzanne Coetzee, communications & CSI practitioner at PEP poses for a picture with PSFA volunteer food preparer, aunty Bessie Rhode and Gr. 7 learner, Raven Van Wyk.