Ladles of Love tackles hunger among homeless people
The organisation provided disposable bowls of warm food and beanies to destitute men and women outside two scrapyards along Pretoria Main Road in Alexandra on June 10.
Read more: Safe haven: Addressing homelessness in the city of Johannesburg
This initiative was part of Ladles of Love's ongoing efforts to ensure access to nutritious food for those who need it most. 'Food security is a human right and not a privilege as it seems to have become,' CEO Daniele Diliberto said.
For Diliberto, the initiative was about more than just food; it was about spreading love and kindness to one of the country's most vulnerable communities. A recent Stats SA report titled A Profile of Homeless Persons in South Africa, 2022, published in February this year, highlighted the worsening homelessness crisis, and it identified unemployment and drug and alcohol use as the two leading contributors to homelessness.
Also read: From a homeless street boy to gospel star
Diliberto rejects the harmful stereotype that homeless individuals are criminals or addicts. 'I don't see homeless people as drunk, addicted people, I see them as human beings like you and me who have a story that brought them to where they are. I am no better than a homeless person just because I don't live on the streets, and I see them as people who have seriously lost their way. Sharing kindness with such a lost soul seems to be the only way to be.'
He said his job was to show them that in their 'lonely and traumatic life,' somebody cared about them, and maybe that would keep hope alive in them to get off the street one day. He added that as long as the 'Godly conversation' he had with a homeless man more than a decade ago remained alive in him, he would continue serving those in need.
Diliberto said they always welcome donations and volunteers. With Mandela Day coming up, he urges people to be a part of it.
To donate or volunteer, you can go to their website Ladlesoflove.org.za.
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Related article: Mokoena seeks sponsorship to feed the homeless
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