New initiative at Garden Route Food Pantry

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GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - It is hoped that a new initiative, the Food Sock nutritional meals, will help to solve some of the challenges experienced by the Garden Route Food Pantry.

The project is the brainchild of Carl van Blerk, founder and CEO of the Garden Route Food Pantry.

Food socks consist of six different flavoured meals, each packed in one easy-to-prepare biodegradable plastic sleeve. Each sock can easily feed four to six people. It was developed over the last few months with the help of food experts.

Van Blerk spoke to George Herald on Monday 30 January about the project and the challenges the non-profit organisation faces.

He said the food pantry opened its doors officially in January 2021. "Over the past two years, we have dedicated our activities towards food security by rescuing food destined to be destroyed at farms, factories and retailers, as well as produced our own fortified cookies and pasta in our on-site kitchen.

"In January this year we broke through a significant milestone of having served more that two million meals to our beneficiaries across the Garden Route, Klein Karoo and Central Karoo regions. This amounts to a value of goods that exceeds R6m."

VIDEO: New plans at Garden Route Food Pantry

According to Van Blerk they cannot put into words the gratitude they have towards all their donors - both those who provide food stock and the financial donors that help them save lives in the Southern Cape region.

"This year we hope to beat this total in just the next 12 months – and together we can do it. We now have a volunteer programme in place as well as the release of our new Food Sock nutritional products," he said.

The parcel will be sold to the public as well. If a person buys one food sock, the pantry will be able to provide one to a person in desperate need, for free. It is hoped that it will help to provide regular meals to the 52 000 (and rapidly growing) families in desperate need.

If a person knows of somebody in need he/she can buy a parcel on their behalf and donate it accordingly. It is also perfectly suited for the elderly, disabled, students, disaster relief and in fact anyone who wants a few easy and affordable meals in their cupboard.

It is a national product and parcels will be distributed countrywide.

Van Blerk was also excited about another new project, the sandwich volunteer programme. Volunteers can bring bread and spread and make sandwiches on Mondays and Wednesdays between 09:00 and 14:00. These are distributed during the week to a variety of children's feeding centres.

He said the biggest challenge remains funding. There are many farmers that are prepared to help, but transport to rescue the food, as well as fuel costs, are needed.