Cape Town - Charity organisation Chefs With Compassion (CW) is celebrating having smashed its Mandela Day #67000litres for Mandela soup challenge.
The collaborative organisation launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to tackle food insecurity, successfully cooking 94 359 litres of nutrient-rich soup to feed 377 436 people across seven provinces.
Chefs with Compassion chairperson James Khoza said the annual soup challenge was the biggest community cooking initiative in the country, with over 128 participants representing hotels, restaurants, and companies.
CWC also facilitated individuals who took up the challenge and got behind their stoves to cook for a cause, cleaning out their pantries to showcase the massive problem of food waste in South Africa.
“From 2 litres to 12 000 litres, every drop contributed towards the total cooked in hotels, canteens, home kitchens and community soup kitchens in Gauteng, KZN, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga and North West, and to the thousands of people who went to bed without the feeling of hunger on Mandela Day,” said Khoza.
“While Mandela Day is an important opportunity for people to give back, the reality is that Chefs with Compassion’s 30 kitchens undertake this work five or six days weekly.
“That’s why we are truly grateful to our sponsors, and donors this year, SYSPRO, AEG, Electrolux, and Compass Insure, who not only made this challenge a success but make our mission possible all year round,” Khoza said.
AEG and Electrolux MD Murray Crow said: “We are proud to have shared in the spirit of compassion collective action and working together to help those less fortunate this year.
“As a brand with a global focus on sustainability, we are also deeply aligned to Chefs with Compassion’s mission to ensure good food doesn’t end up in landfill, contributing to climate change through methane emissions.”
Chefs with Compassion also hosted celebrity chefs and public figures including Nelson Mandela’s private chef for 22 years, Xoliswa Ndoyiya, who participated in a cook-off challenge at the organisation’s head office contributing to the facility’s 2 000 litres.
The organisation also hosted former Springbok Tendai Mtawarira, who spent his Mandela Day buttering bread at the Out of Africa Children’s Home in Atlantis.