This year, Daily Maverick and SA Harvest have embarked on their third annual campaign to combat hunger in the Eastern Cape, and we need your help to make it a success. In a heartfelt interview, SA Harvest CEO Ozzy Nel reflects on how this incredible journey began with just R35,000 and a dream — and how it has grown to give hope to thousands of families. Over the past two years, your generosity has helped us provide food to more than 4,000 families.
This year, our goal is to add another 2,000 vulnerable families to that list. From leaving Cape Town for Lusikisiki with ambitious goals but limited funds, to being overwhelmed by the gratitude shown by grateful recipients, SA Harvest CEO Ozzy Nel believes one word can sum up three years of Buckets of Nutrition campaigns – hope. “This campaign provides real hope.
We give children a fighting chance. Many are so scarred by what they have been through – this is a way for us to restore their hope and their dignity,” he said. “We make people feel like they matter.
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We know that providing food to families makes children feel safe.” In 2023, after Daily Maverick and SA Harvest started the first campaign to provide food parcels to families in Lusikisiki and surrounding areas, Nel left for Durban, from where he was to drive down to the Eastern Cape, without the necessary donor funding in place. “I saw what was possible. We wanted to feed 1,000 families.
A week later, we had a million rand. Last year, the campaign raised a similar amount for buckets that were distributed to vulnerable families whose children were in hospital or being treated for chronic conditions. This year, thecampaignwill focus on families with children in holiday programmes – making sure they have enough to eat and that their families will have enough food not to worry about empty tummies over Christmas.
After being alerted of an urgent need for women-led families affected by gender-based violence, some of the buckets will also be distributed to families in crisis. Nel explained that the organisation’s deep-rooted relationship with the women who cook for children during the year provides a valuable resource to identify families who would benefit most from the buckets to be distributed. “This year, for example, we were alerted to the fact that many of the children in the target communities also have worms, which can contribute to malnutrition, so we have added some soap and other cleaning products to help with this,” Nel said. He said the bucket was designed to get a family through the festive season until the children are back at school and settled into receiving meals again through school-feeding programmes.
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