Says Rama project manager Katlego Makabate, “Lunch Buddies is a great initiative that currently feeds around 1438 children daily in the Western Cape. Rama contains the essential fats that are needed for kids' healthy growth and development and by partnering with Lunch Buddies we are able to contribute towards ensuring that underprivileged children receive optimal dietary intake.”
The Rama Lunch Buddies campaign kicks off on Saturday, 27 March 2010, in the Western Cape at Vangate Mall. A series of events will be taking place showcasing kids helping kids and mothers helping mothers with the help of Rama and Lunch Buddies. It's an initiative about people getting together, getting involved and making a difference - one child and one meal at a time.
Explains Lunch Buddies Regional Coordinator Grant McPherson, “We currently work on a ratio of 6:1 and we need to up the volumes of the sandwiches we receive in the Western Cape to a ratio of 3:1. The process is simple, we ask children from a privileged school to bring an extra sandwich on a certain day of the week which we then collect and redistribute that same day to an impoverished school. All the lunch packs are checked for their nutritional value and safe human consumption standards. It is amazing to see the difference a sandwich a day can make in the life of an underprivileged child and reports show better concentration ability and less absenteeism. For many it is their main meal of the day and in some instances the child wraps the remaining half and takes it home for a sibling or family member.”
Although the initial launch is taking place in Cape Town, the plans are to roll out the Rama Lunch Buddies programme into other regions in KZN, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.
