One of the Pirates Rugby Old Boys, Steve Hollis, approached AFL to partner with the Pirates Sports Club on a food drop initiative to support those less fortunate during the COVID-19 lockdown. We took up the opportunity immediately and what an honour and absolutely humbling experience it was.
Another Pirates Old Boy, Barry Skjoldhammer, handled the radio coverage and, together with Jeremy Mansfield from Hot 91.9FM and David O’Sullivan from Kaya FM, spread the word on both mornings of 22 and 23 April. eNCA filmed at the end of the event and interviewed Non Welsford and Steve Hollis live.
The invitation was specifically for the residents of Greenside, Parktown North, Parkhurst, Parkview and Emmerentia to drive through the parking lot of the Club and drop off one shopping bag containing the following:-
- Mielie Meal – 2.5kgs
- Potatoes 1 Bag
- Soya Mince 1 Box
- Cabbage
- Tea Bags
- Sugar
- Loaf of Bread
- Peanut Butter OR
- Jam (easy open)
- Fruit Juice
Set up began at around 9.00am in the car park of the club, together with a string of volunteers from Pirates, and three ladies from AFL, Carine Fraser, Colette Reid and Michelle Diesel. Although the gates remained closed initially, cars started flowing in when they opened at 10:00 a.m., and by 10:07 a.m., people had already dropped off 50 bags. By 10:30 a.m., they had delivered another 150 bags, and the momentum continued throughout the event.
The generosity of this community overwhelmed us. Many brought more than one bag of groceries, with some as many as 10 bags. We had a local green grocer who delivered large bags of sweet potatoes, oranges, cabbages, potatoes, bananas, a local baker who delivered 50 loaves of freshly baked bread, people who delivered 10 to 20, 2 l bottles of concentrated juices, long life milk, and the list goes on……
As the vehicles were driving through dropping off the groceries, Pirates members in their vehicles were leaving dropping off…..eventually we had to ask some of the beneficiaries to collect in their own vehicles as the car park was filling up with bags.
This had totally exceeded and went far beyond our expectations. In total, 462 vehicles dropped off food, and we collected over 1,200 bags of groceries.
The beneficiaries of this food were the following :-
- HOPE Africa
- Greenide Residents Association
- Salvation Army Even Tide Old Age Home
- One Small Act of Kindness
- Society of St Vincent of Paul
- MES
- Ntataise ECD Center -Diepsloot
- St Columbus Presbyterian Church
- Liberty Compassion
Love and the joy of giving was truly the order of the day, knowing that so many more tummies would be full that night made for a very good night’s sleep for all that participated. Thank you to all involved and for giving AFL the opportunity of participating.
We look forward to the next food drop which is to take place on Thursday the 30th April 2020, once again at Pirates Sports Club.