A Philippi, Cape Town, organisation’s efforts to combat hunger, strained to breaking point by crippling distribution constraints, has been thrown a logistics lifeline with the donation of a new R415 000 vehicle by the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT).
The Iman Impact Makers Action Network NPC (IMAN), which operates as a branch of the well-known Roshnee Feeding Scheme, was battling to cope with its single and inadequate vehicle delivery of fresh produce and ingredients, for its 30 different feeding points around the province.
Since 2019, it has fed more than 3,8 million meals to desperate people in the region.
The Roshnee Feeding Scheme has been serving freshly prepared hot meals daily for the past 10 years, feeding impoverished communities within the Vaal area and in 2019 expanded its operations to include Cape Town, where a very real need for food security was identified.
Reflecting on its vehicle sponsorship, SAMCT representative, Mr Faried Boltman, said: “The IMAN NPC has seen a significant increase in demand for assistance with daily essentials, such as food, bread and groceries (food hampers) amongst poverty-stricken communities in the Cape Town region.”
“Sadly, the only limitation to increasing its reach were constraints related to delivery, being reliant on a single vehicle. This placed a massive strain on the organisation’s ability to cope with service demand.”
Aware that the organisation had the capacity to increase daily meal preparation at its 30 community kitchens, but was constrained by the logistics limitations, the SAMCT was quick to offer assistance, bringing on-stream a second vehicle to help the organisation support more vulnerable communities.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds. The organisation provides funding, services and other resources to improve the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged. It has successfully delivered sizeable assistance solutions throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or religion – and continues to work to support needy organisations in the fields of healthcare, social development, poverty alleviation and education.
“The SAMCT is pleased to have been an enabler for the Impact Makers Action Network in Cape Town, affording the organisation greater impetus in serving the hungry in informal settlements and struggling communities, given the rapidly increasing need for food assistance in these impoverished areas,” Mr Boltman said.
Other initiatives undertaken by the organisation include weekly bread donations to make sandwiches for school-going children (1 300 loaves a month), assistance with hamper distribution, on average 450 monthly, and an extensive Ramadan programme, where more than 4 000 families are afforded help, together with assistance for the elderly and an empowerment programme to skill
and uplift needy families, thanks to the dedication, generosity and spirit of upliftment displayed by the Impact Makers Action Network’s supporters.
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For more information about the SAMCT or its IMAN vehicle donation, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Officer
Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za
www.samct.co.za