OUR PRINCIPAL BUCKETS FACILITATORS

Let us not forget our amazing Buckets of Love facilitators, who marshalled much of the packing and distribution, not to mention the storage, of the Buckets of Love. I'm talking about Keaton Fieties (always there, from Day 1, and Buckets helper for five years), Anastasia Lakey (our ever-pleasant receptionist) and Jethro D'Offizi (also a great Buckets champion). To their sterling organising skills must go much of the credit for delivery of the thousands of buckets that went out. Well done, team! You guys are simply the best.

LEST WE FORGET...OUR DIRECT BUCKETS MARKETEERS

Let's not forget the role played by those who had a very direct hand in promoting our beloved Buckets of Love campaign, especially the students who stood at traffic lights and handed out Buckets leaflets to motorists. Well done, guys, for handing them all out. You did us proud!

CWD Marketing team

PARISH DEMONSTRATES ITS LOVE AND CARE

St Joseph's parish, Goodwood donated R19 025.00 to the Buckets of Love campaign. According to Marion (pictured, left) and Bob Sang (middle)  and Clive Jacoby (right), who delivered the cheque to CWD, it is the third year the parish has had Buckets as its special campaign; last year, they said, the parish had raised R14 000. The Sangs and Mr Jacoby had high praise for parishioners' responsiveness and their willingness to help others.
They spoke of young people diving into their pockets, even to give R2 towards Buckets of Love, people giving packets of little coins, and just the general enthusiasm for the campaign. They said Portuguese-speaking parishioners were also big contributors.
St Joseph's also had a few fundraising parish events, including a "muffin morning" that raised just under R2 000.
They also related how one individual had seen the Buckets display (bucket and posters) in the church porch, inquired after it, and donated R1 600 then and there. Mr Sang said those driving Buckets at the parish intended to start fundraising much earlier for next year's one.

FATHER AND SONS CARRY OUT THEIR SENSE OF SERVICE

Brothers Andy, 14, (pictured below, left) and Alastair During, 17, hand over Buckets of Love to people of Tafelsig, Mitchell's Plain at CWD's local Community Development Centre. For the brothers, who were accompanied by their father John (pictured above), this was a special duty, a service, making a difference to the Christmas of some of Cape Town's poorest people.

LAVISTOWN SVP SERVES COMMUNITY FOR 34 YEARS

 

Ada Kleinsmith (left, pictured), president of the SVP of St Martin de Porres' Catholic Church, Lavistown, says the group has worked with the poor, elderly, donated food parcels (currently at R3 000 per month), conducted fundraisers and sourced donations in the greater Elsies River area, and beyond (including the Malawi Camp informal settlement and Valhalla Park), for 34 years. Members also volunteer services at local primary health-care clinics, whose facilities are always stretched to the limit. She says the group is glad for the Buckets of Love because they know the need in these areas intimately.

GIVING COMPANY CHRISTMAS GIFT BUDGET MORE MEANINGFUL SPIN

Lisa van Leeuwen, publicist for Dauphin Humandesign, which is part of the Bidvest Group, a holding company, said her company, instead of simply buying a gift for each of its clients, decided to sponsor a Bucket of Love on each of its clients' behalf, which the clients were only too happy about. She organised a shoot at CWD headquarters among the packed Buckets of Love with Cape Town branch manager Debbie Robinson and little Buckets helpers Lodewyk Stadler, 8 (right) from Sutherland, Northern Cape and Nam Zini, 11, of Khayelitsha.

LACK OF FACILITIES, FOOD - STAPLE OF PRINCESS VLEI SQUATTERS

Marion Green (pictured, left) and Beryl Johnson of St Pius X Catholic Church, Plumstead's St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) spoke of the busyness of responding to the needs of the Southern Suburbs poor, and especially the poor of Princess Vlei informal settlement, Ms Green told of how one tap and a toilet serve 14 children, four infants and 27 adults in one section of the place. She spoke of one little girl who has bone cancer, whom doctors at Groote Schuur and Red Cross Hospitals have given up on, even though she has continued to attend school. It is such people that the SVP serves and who will be receiving 70 Buckets of Love sponsored by St Pius X parishioners. The society also serves communities in Steenberg, Lavender Hill and Parkwood Estate. It has a daily "breakfast run" in these areas, which it alternates with Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Grassy Park and AME Church in Kenilworth. Aside from food, the SVP distributes clothes, responds in emergency situations, providing crisis relief, is on permanent call, and so on.

BRINGING JOY TO OTHERS

Fierdous Olivier and Steve Roberts say that for employees of their firm of auditors, Price, Waterhouse and Cooper, who donated more than 100 Buckets of Love, the association with a big organisation such as CWD gladdens their hearts, providing a good springboard to bring some joy into the lives of the less fortunate.

AMAZING WHAT A LITTLE RADIO MESSAGE CAN LEAD ONE TO DO FOR HUMANITY!

Ina Kellerman of Legacy Hotels and Resorts listened to Buckets of Love radio campaign, with its stories of real people and their experiences, she knew her company had to do the right thing and all her colleagues needed to be on the right page about giving. Her determination paid off. Every year the company have a small function, but this year decided to spend the money in a far more meaningful way. Colleague Zuleiga, who also came to pack buckets, immediately went on a reconnaissance mission, found out more about the agency and Buckets. Zuleiga said she liked the idea of packing as a service, a job someone needs to do, and transporting them to the community.

COPYTYPE TRIES TO GIVE BACK A BIT

Charl Wakeham, spokesperson for the group of Copytype employees who came to CWD to help pack Buckets of Love, said the organisation has been a customer for many years. Knowing what CWD does inspires them to give something back to society, and especially the less fortunate, he said. He said his company also supports several other projects, including The Ark, a local haven for children in crisis and Aids babies, and is open to new social responsibility projects.

DOING SOMETHING SMALL, YET SIGNIFICANT, FOR A HUNGRY- AND CRIME-FREE SA

Lucy Wageni, 13, who’s in Grade 7 at Holy Cross Primary School, District Six, also believes that, by performing this packing service for Buckets of Love, she and her classmates are helping families that don’t have food they way they have. She believes it is one small way to support people in getting out of poverty, and “everyone deserves to have a proper Christmas.” Classmate Fred Nshumbusho, 14, takes similar pride in being able to do something for others. “I see a lot of poor people living on the streets as well as hunger and crime because of hunger and poverty,” he said, “so I feel I am doing something good.”

ITEC CARES

Joshua Bell, spokesperson for the group from ITEC, an IT company that is also a service provider to CWD, said the company has been doing this for a few years, and staff had thus far donated about 1 000 buckets to the campaign. He said the decision to support Buckets of Love was not difficult, especially since the company is familiar with CWD’s work, servicing its programmes and CDCs, and knows exactly what it is doing in the community, and staff are glad that the buckets are being handed out there.

“It is all about giving back, which is something ITEC is dedicated to doing,” Josh said. He said Buckets is one of several causes he and his team are supporting, including SA Epilepsy. They take part in the Cape Town’s annual Big Walk, organise gala dinners for this purpose and support the work of other NGOs.

ONE REALISES HOW PRIVILEGED ONE IS

Luske Aysen, 13, in Grade 7 at Holy Cross Primary School, Bellville is very conscious of the fact that there are many children and families out there that do not have the privileges that she has. “We will have tables and tables of food and presents, but they won’t have,” she said. “So I want to see if I can help out.” Luske said it feels good to help a family put food in their stomach this Christmas. She said that each grade at her school supports Buckets of Love.

Fellow pupil Kaylin Adonis, 14, said that doing her bit to help families that often do not have food, let alone Christmas treats, gives her a “warm feeling”.

Every year, classmate John Bullock, 13, pointed out, Holy Cross pupils perform this special duty of packing buckets, making Christmas worthwhile to the poor. He said it makes him supremely conscious of the fact that there are people worse off than he and that he should help them, something classmate Wilson Boyce, 12, totally agrees with.

Pauline Ford, manager of the Buckets campaign (pictured, below ), thanked the school for their effort.

'BUCKETS OF LOVE' AND THE MARIST ETHOS

Buckets of Love fits squarely into the Marist ethos, says Micaela Arendse, 12, a Grade 6 pupil at St Joseph's Marist Brothers Junior School, Rondebosch, who came along with her classmates to CWD to pack Buckets of Love as a special service. She said her Catholic education has taught her that she is lucky to have what she has because others have been there to help her. Micaela feels privileged to be able to make a difference for someone else, even if it is just over Christmas.

Classmate Thato Menu, 13, agrees with this, adding that “sharing is caring”. Packing buckets, he said, falls within the five Marist values – love of work, the way of Mary mother of Jesus, simplicity, presence (being there for others) and fostering a family spirit (or team spirit).

Cassidy Jacobs, 14, in Grade 8 at St Joseph's senior school, who came to pack on a separate day, said that helping someone else definitely makes her feel good about herself. Fellow packer, Tristan Nathan, 13, in Grade 8 said he likes the idea of disadvantaged people having a taste of good food at Christmas, while Robyn Brink, 12, in Grade 7 at the junior school, said she was there to give others a meal. She said that as a Christian, she was taught to give something back to God, especially by helping others any way she can.

Seventeen-year-old Jamie Joshua, who's in Grade 9, believes that everyone must simply have food over Christmas -- there's just no alternative! He also believes in the importance of having a proper value system, which includes showing people that one cares for them.

Zulfa Arendse, 15, in Grade 9, said she also believes in the principle of feeding families who are unable to fend for themselves, and now for a slightly longer time, particularly because hunger is a big problem in South Africa. She believes this is one small way to address such problems. "Very often, the smallest gesture can be the most significant contribution," Zulfa said.

Donation from Ladies of Metropolitan Golf Club

On Wednesday, October 27, the Ladies of the Metropolitan Golf Club in Sea Point held a raffle in aid of Buckets of Love and their acting captain, Denise Hull (pictured), was tasked with handing over R1 000 to CWD. The prizes for the raffle were donated by the Cape Quarter Spar. She told Michail Rassool, the agency's communications manager, that the club had found this campaign so appealing, not least because it symbolises the whole principle of responding where the need most exists. Way to go, ladies!

The scandal of as yet untransformed food security levels

Sixteen years into our democracy food security levels, particularly among children, are hardly any more significant than before, in the dark days of apartheid.

Food insecurity is cited as a huge problem in South Africa, despite the country showing a fast-growing economy. More than 34% households are living on less than R16 a day, which greatly impacts their access to food.

According to the Human Sciences Research Council, 57% of individuals in South Africa live below the poverty line, with Limpopo and the Eastern Cape the hardest hit. The most recent United Nations statistics indicate that there are around 1.2 billion malnourished people in the world.
Government and civil society have a responsibility to form workable partnerships, based on political commitment, to address this problem holistically.