Longest Night of the Year Made a Little Easier

On the 21^st June, Mustadafin Foundation collaborated with Pick ‘n Pay to distribute a much-needed evening meal to around 500 underprivileged people in the Parade area of central Cape Town.

With the date recorded as the longest night of what has been a particularly cold and wet winter, Pick ‘n Pay Marketing Manager Mark Jennings said it was the perfect opportunity to give back to the community and asked Mustadafin, one of South Africa’s top five relief and welfare organizations, to join forces and help make a difference at this particularly difficult time of year.

Pick ‘n Pay donated all the food for the evening’s proceedings (including meat, rice, herbs and spices together with hot chocolate, sugar and milk) and then left the cooking and distribution in Mustadafin’s experienced hands.

The Mustadafin team started cooking at 2pm on the afternoon of the distribution date. Mark Jennings and his Pick ‘n Pay volunteers set up large tables and branded gazeboes in the Parade parking lot, where the food was covered and protected from the rain.

At 6.30pm, loud, upbeat music was played to draw the attention of the many cold and hungry people in and around the area towards the distribution tents. By 7pm there were already two long lines of people waiting for their share of hot food. With the help of Cape Town Police department and a separate security company, the queues remained orderly and the mood was friendly throughout the distribution. “This food I eat tonight, might be the only food I have for the week,” said an elderly man in the queue. Another man said he was “grateful to the people who help the poor, and God bless them.”

Aside from all the food, Pick ‘n Pay also donated over 500 warm blankets for the event. As each person collected their food, they were given a blanket each before moving along the line to receive a cup of hot chocolate.

Within an hour and a half, over 1,000 people had been fed, more than double what was initially hoped for.  According to Mustadafin Secretary Faiza Lee, the collaborative effort had performed “miracles”.

For more information about Mustadafin, visit www.mustadafin.com and for Pick ‘n Pay donations visit, http://www.picknpay.co.za/picknpay/content/en/news?oid=252979&sn=Detail&pid=10563

Images taken by: Angela Benz