Now meet some of the people who were so grateful for your generosity

The queues for help are always long and patient, a mixture of single men, young and old; women with young children; and sadly, even children without guardians or parents.

Clothing is worn out and threadbare – no warm jackets, scarves, socks or beanies. Women with bare legs and feet in broken sandals.

Fatima (39) had a five month old baby on her back. They live and old disused building. During Covid, Fatima was retrenched from her job as a cashier. Then her ID was stolen. With no money to get a new ID, nobody will employ her. Receiving her bowl of hot pap and stew, she said, “Thank you, this will be my only food today, and with the blankets we’ll sleep warm tonight”.

Francina is 71. She was robbed of everything including her spectacles. With no ID she can’t apply for a SASSA grant and walks the streets begging. This is what she said: “Life is hard, but today I’m happy, I have some food, I feel blessed”.

Gladys is too young to apply for a SASSA grant. The restaurant where she was a manager closed down. Willing to do any kind of work, she knocks on doors, hoping for employment. Pointing to our officers, she said: “These are good people, God will bless them”.

Priscilla’s children are 11 and 16. They don’t go to school because Priscilla can’t pay the fees or buy school uniforms. She ate very little, taking most of the meal back for her family, and asked for an extra blanket.

Queenie and Suka walked many kilometers in the hope of getting a blanket. For both of them, the meal was a blessing.

Your gift of blankets was a treasured blessing.

Gerald from Pietermaritzburg lost his parents when he was very young, and left school to find work. Thinking that life would be better in a big city, he came to Johannesburg. For seven years he worked as a security guard for a cash in transit company until he was attacked. He started getting seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy. Often standing at traffic lights, Gerald says: “Some people are kind, others swear at you or throw their litter at you”. Living in a building doorway, Gerald was deeply grateful for your food and blanket.

So many lives of hardship, so many stories of how they got there. So much thankfulness for your caring.