Christmas came early for more than 700 children from Westbury, Newlands and other surrounding suburbs when they were handed gift packs by founder of the local soup kitchen, Dorothea van Rooyen and her team.
The soup kitchen, which feeds at least 200 people daily, has in the past three years played host to the end-of-year gift programme for children from Newlands and surrounding areas.
This year was no different as scores of young children in the company of their parents queued outside for their turn to receive a gift, which came with essential items including crayons, facecloths, toothbrush and toothpaste as well as toys.
Speaking to “The Star” on Saturday, Janice Pitout who runs the kitchen alongside Van Rooyen, said it is priceless seeing the smile on the children’s faces after receiving their gifts.
“Through the soup kitchen where we feed about 200-plus people daily from Monday to Friday, we are able to come together at the end of the day for this special celebration where we hand out gifts to children. This year, we are able to extend this to at least 700 of them. It is a great feeling to see these children happy when they receive these gifts, which were made possible through a donation from Santa Shoebox,” Pitout said.
According to Van Rooyen, the gift programme is growing in leaps and bounds and so are the demands of keeping up with a growing list of children who some walk more than 5km to collect their gifts.
“Some children walk 5km to 10km to be here. It is really a great thing to see them enjoying their gifts. Last year, we were sponsored by Santa Shoebox for 200 children in November and we held a second party on 16 December 2022 for the children who did not receive Santa Shoebox gifts. We did another 250 children on the 16th and Santa Shoebox jumped in and helped us with those gifts as well. This year we registered for 500 children with Santa Shoebox and we had to fund the other 200 gifts ourselves.
“We are delighted to be able to do this as most of the children are from challenging households. So this really for them is the only gift they are going to get this Christmas,“ she said.
A proud Doris Pillay, who accompanied her son to collect his gift, said they are grateful for the gift. “I am very happy for the children and the community at large. As you can see the children are very happy as well and they are excited to be considered for this initiative,” she said.
Leonard Smith, another parent who attended the handover ceremony, said the community should protect the soup kitchen and its founders.
“We should protect this soup kitchen for the beautiful work that it does for the children and the elderly who rely on it for their daily meals. It is a great initiative that should be commended,” he said.
The Star