Cape Town – A domestic worker's campaign to raise funds to assist Ottery families that have been grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic has so far raised more than R60 000.
Lauren Juries, who has been working as a domestic worker for three years, said she identified over 100 vulnerable families in her immediate area who were in need of support during the lockdown, and launched the campaign in April to help them with basic groceries.
“I always wanted to help people and never knew how to start, and in April I asked my employer if there was any way that she could help me. I had a few families that I wanted to help with food. I've always had a love for people, especially kids,” she said.
Juries said campaigning for the people in her community was a dream come true.
“As a mother, I always had a dream of helping people in my community but never knew where to begin. A month ago, I wouldn't have known that today I'd be campaigning for my community,” she said.
In partnership with YeboFresh, Omega Family Fellowship, PowerTime, Hands of Honour and Shoprite, she managed to raise much-needed funds.
Campaign co-ordinator Tracy Gander said they have partnered with 10 soup kitchens who feed the hungry daily to stretch resources to feed more families.
“The primary focus of our campaigns are food parcels, vouchers and electricity. Our Soup Mammas who feed about 100000 people a week rely on ad hoc donations from their personal networks and from NGOs such as Souper Troupers and DG Murray Trust to buy raw ingredients for meals,” said Gander.
She said an estimated R1 500 a week was needed to supply a single soup kitchen with groceries to feed between 200 and 300 people a day.
To support the campaign, visit: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/ottery-care