After last year’s successful initiative which raised over R6 million, the members of the South African Chefs Association have made a difference on this Monday’s World Hunger Day as the funds raised by the Bidvest World Chefs Tour Against Hunger are being distributed to needy children around the country. Every day 750 children are fed breakfast and lunch at the Akani centre in Johannesburg and 650 children at Just Us 4 Children in Durban receive two meals a day. Approximately 2 500 children are also assisted with food parcels through the African Children Feeding Scheme. This would not have been possible without the funds raised last year by the 350 local and international chefs that came together in South Africa to be a part of this initiative.
SACA Past President Chef Martin Kobald, the convener of last year’s Bidvest World Chefs Tour Against Hunger, was recently named a Hunger Advocate for the United Nations World Food Programme, saying that “There is a great deal of interest and goodwill among chefs to help the hungry but the challenge is how to do it. It’s actually very simple: solid commitment and action.” It was through tireless action and commitment from chefs around South Africa and the world that the Bidvest World Chefs Tour Against Hunger was successful, and in keeping with the mandate given to the organisers of last year’s Tour, Bridget Gunner has been appointed to oversee the distribution of the funds that were and will continue to be raised. Bridget is in the process of setting up the funding of feeding schemes in Cape Town, East London, Nelspruit and Bloemfontein, from her base at the South African Chefs Association offices in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.
Says President Stephen Billingham, “Too many children around the world go to bed on an empty stomach, but I am happy that through the concerted efforts of over 350 chefs from South Africa and around the world, the South African Chefs Association can assist in giving two nutritious meals a day to 4000 children, with more to follow.”
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