Come winter a warm blanket and a hot, wholesome meal is a God sent and potentially life-saving help to the scores of homeless who will face bitterly cold conditions on the streets of Cape Town.
After handing out more than 1 000 blankets to organisations in Cape Town last year, the folks at Good Hope FM hope to double this number and provide feeding schemes with resources as their 2022 Keep Cape Town Warm campaign launches.
During last year’s campaign 200 street people from the northern suburbs of Kuils River and Kraaifontein benefitted with the help of partnering organisation Ubuntu, an NGO working with people living on the street.
Ubuntu cares for these people through providing various services supporting the homeless.
Intervention programmes include counselling, a reintegration programme and hosting a feeding scheme.
This year’s campaign will run throughout June and will aim to collect more blankets and non-perishable food than ever before, distributing them to where they are needed most via the station’s trusted partner, Community Chest.
“As the winter chill approaches, the question we need to ask ourselves is how much we would do – and how our giving would change – if the unfamiliar faces and shadows we so often see looking for shelter were someone we know.
Our gran or grandpa, our mom and dad, our brother, sister or close friend,” says Gerard Muller, programme manager at Good Hope FM.
“The fact is that every person in need is someone’s family, not just some anonymous shell. Someone who deserves compassionate care.
“Someone who, without the necessary warmth and food, may very well not survive the winter cold if we don’t reach out.
“This is the fire in our motivation for this campaign and we know that Capetonians will once again rally behind it with all they’ve got.”
For this year’s Good Hope FM Keep Cape Town Warm campaign, there are various ways in which the public can help.
You can drop off new or clean-washed, neat second hand blankets and non-perishable food at the Good Hope FM Studios, located at 209 Beach Road, Sea Point, or at the station’s live broadcast.
The station will visit the northern suburbs of Cape Town on Saturday 18 June at the Milnerton Market from 09:00 to 15:00 and Parow High on Wednesday 29 June from 06:00 to 09:00.
Or, a monetary donation can be made via the Community Chest website.
