Hunger is Real - Share a Meal
Overview
What is Hunger is Real
Hunger is Real is a programme started in March 2020 as a Christian response to the hunger crisis exacerbated by the pandemic. Countless poor and marginalised people have lost their means of income and ability to buy food to support themselves and their families. Hunger is Real provides support to buy food and food parcels for the needy. 100% of every donation is used for this sole purpose. The programme is well managed and is run by Constantia Catholic Community Outreach and overseen by the Parish Finance Council.
Background
Our parish responds to the pandemic
Think back to March 2020 when our country was suddenly and shockingly plunged into lockdown and our lives changed overnight. It feels like eons ago – certainly a time of fear, bewilderment and uncertainty. Against this setting in those early days of the pandemic our parish knew that the lockdown would have a huge impact on the poor and marginalised people in our society. And as a response we started the HUNGER IS REAL programme by reaching out to the parish to raise money for food.
The response from our parish was hugely generous. Very quickly we raised a large sum of money and were able to support the Archdiocese Food Parcel programme as well as arrange food parcels through St Vincent de Paul for many parishes in Cape Town.
This support continued over the months into a sustainable and steady flow of funds which means that we have been able to extend our support to more parishes on a regular basis. Up to the end of June 2021 we have raised R750 k and extended our support to 29 beneficiaries.
A New Appeal, Same Resolve
Go from R750k to R1m by the end of the year
On September 11, we presented a new appeal for our ongoing Hunger is Real programme.
The purpose and hope of this new campaign is to take the R750k up to R1m before the end of the year.
100% of all money raised will be used to continue to support our current beneficiaries. We will also support the newly formed CARITAS in Cape Town.
ABOUT CARITAS
CARITAS is the official social outreach arm of the Catholic Church and in SA receives its mission from the SACBC. It was started in 1897 and now operates as 165 organizations in 200 countries around the world. It has been in SA since 1970 and was constituted in Cape Town at the end of 2020. They are running an emergency programme of Food Parcels to the needy in Cape Town.
We know that covid-19, this silent invisible deadly enemy, is not going away any time soon, nor will it go without a fight. And it is leaving a trail of suffering and destruction behind it. People have become sick, and we deeply mourn those who have died, taken from their families, and us, all too soon, and often in a cruel and heartbreaking way. Our economy has suffered terribly. Large and small businesses have had to close or scale back. The losses are immense – businesses, jobs, livelihoods - lost.
But it is always the poor, the weakest, the most vulnerable in our society that suffer the most, and in this pandemic they have borne a very heavy cross.
Update - 30/31 October
Since September 11, we have raised R82,050. This has brought our total for the Hunger is Real fund to R994,102.37. Our target was to get to R1m by the end of the year and we are confident that we will reach or even exceed this amount. In this same period (since Sept 11) we have made donations amounting to R65,000 to 8 needy and deserving beneficiaries.
THANK YOU!!! Your response was typical of our parish – kind, thoughtful, caring and extremely generous! This last year has not been an easy time and everywhere people have tightened their belts and responded to the times by reducing and simplifying life. Yet the giving and generousity of our parish, of you, knows no bounds. So thank you!! Please know that your kindness is never taken for granted and is always appreciated.
Every penny counts and with R300 we can feed a family of 4 for a week. That makes a difference! We make a difference.
Please download the Report for details.
How Can I Help
Four ways to give and get involved
1. DONATE
We are asking for monetary donations of any amounts. 100% of every donation made will go towards food parcels and supporting food and hunger programmes in our area. Banking details are below.
CONSTANTIA CATHOLIC HUNGER IS REAL FUND
Thank you for showing your support and donating to the HUNGER IS REAL Fund. You can do this by making an EFT to the below bank account:
Bank: Standard Bank
Account Name: Constantia Catholic Church
Branch Code: 025 309
Current Account No: 07 169 8965
SWIFT Code: SBZAZAJJ
Reference: HUNGER IS REAL
OPTIONAL
If you wish to receive an acknowledgement or receipt, please include your name and details. If you wish to send a proof of payment, please send it to email materecl@constantiacatholic.co.za.
2. GET INVOLVED ... SOUP KITCHEN
For the SOUP KITCHEN the plan is to get a group of people together in the parish who will make soup with a specified recipe. You can make this soup at home OR you come to the parish kitchen. We will start by doing this once a month and will grow the programme over time.
TO GET INVOLVED: If you want to know more details about this and get involved in any way, please contact Karen Parkin (karen.parkin@gmail.com) OR the Parish Office OR put your name down on the list at the back of the church.
3. GET INVOLVED ... YOUTH PROJECT
The other programme we are initiating is a YOUTH PROJECT. It's aim is to create a greater real-life awareness of the hardships of poverty in our communities and to nurture our Christian charity culture of volunteering, of loving our neighbour, of giving back and getting involved. There are a few ways in which this will be implemented across the age groups – from sandwich making, to projects with the universities.
TO GET INVOLVED: Thank you to the people who have already expressed an interest in getting involved. With exams now upon us, we will kick this off properly in the New Year. If you are interested or wish to find out more, please contact Karen Parkin OR the Parish Office OR put your name down on the form at the back of the church.
4. SPREAD THE WORD
Please share this with your friends, family and beyond. There are very many people who may not be in our parish who want to make a difference by helping those in need. Our programme is well established, well managed and every penny goes to feeding the poor and alleviating hunger and suffering.
You can
- Share this webpage address (www.constantiacatholic.com/community-service/hunger-is-real-share-a-meal/)
- Share our banking details (above)
- Send the leaflets to people (download here)
What you need to know about Hunger
What is Hunger
Hunger is the most extreme expression of poverty. It the number one problem in the world today.
Hunger is that feeling of painful discomfort or weakness caused when people do not consume a sufficient amount of food on a regular basis for a normal, active healthy and dignified life. Hunger is defined by a lack of food, a lack of the right sort of food. The threshold for food deprivation, or undernourishment, is defined by the number of calories required per day (1,500 - 1,800 calories per day).
Food Insecurity
Food insecurity relates to the availability, access and utilization of food – not knowing from where the next meal is coming. Food insecurity occurs when people lack regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life.
People who experience food insecurity may make sacrifices to be able to eat, or to be able to feed their family. For example, they may miss meals, especially at the end of the month. And when they do eat, it may be whatever is most readily available or cheapest, which often is not the most nutritious food. Even if they meet their daily calorie requirements, people could be missing essential nutrients. This deficiency causes malnutrition.
Effects of Hunger
For children under nutrition causes a higher risk of stunting (low height for a child’s age); blindness (lack of Vitamin A); anemia (lack of iron); overweight; obesity; wasting or severe acute malnutrition (low weight for a child’s age); and chronic diseases like diabetes as they get older. It also affects their ability to cope in school and engage in meaningful employment later in life.
If pregnant mothers are undernourished, their babies cannot develop correctly during pregnancy and are frequently born prematurely and/or underweight. Babies that suffer from malnutrition in the womb have little chance of catching up. They are born with weakened immune systems and are more susceptible to infections. The physical and mental development of the child is restricted which affects their physical and mental capacity as they grow up and in adulthood.
Hunger is a vicious circle. Undernourishment is not only a consequence of poverty, it also causes poverty, being passed on from generation to the next. As earning opportunities decrease the risk of poverty increases – and so the cycle continues.
Hunger in South Africa
Of the 60 million South Africans, one in five regularly experience hunger. (1)
- Approx. 10.2 million (17%) experienced hunger
- Approx. 2.4 million (4%) experienced perpetual hunger (every day or almost every day).
Poverty generally impacts rural South African areas more than urban areas.
The Impact of the Pandemic and Lock Down
Food shortages are the biggest concern during the lock down. Hunger ratios in SA are on an upward trajectory after the start of COVID-19.
The prevalence of running out of money to buy food, weekly household hunger has been reported over the four waves of the pandemic.
Estimates suggest it may be as high as 34% of people in South Africa (one in three) have gone to bed hungry during the lock down. (1)
Two out of five adults interviewed in a survey said that between May and June their household had lost its main source of income since the lock down started. 47% reported that their home ran out of money to buy food in April. (1)
Unemployment is a major determinant of hunger. South Africa's unemployment rate rose to 34.4% in the second quarter of 2021 - highest jobless rate since comparable data began in 2008 (8). Of the 82 countries where unemployment is measured by Bloomberg, South Africa’s unemployment rate is the highest. If the definition of unemployment is expanded to include people who have stopped looking for work, it is at 44.4%, up from 43.2% in the prior period. (8) Youth unemployment (job-seekers 15 - 24 years), reached a new record high of 64.4%. Only one out of three persons in that age group are employed. (8)
Worldwide
Every day too many men and women across the globe struggle to feed themselves and their children a nutritious meal. In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, up to 811 million people still go to bed on an empty stomach each night. That’s almost 12 percent of the world’s population of 7.1 billion people. (2)
After steadily declining for a decade, world hunger is on the rise, driven largely by conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, the number of undernourished people grew by as many as 161 million. (3)
98% of those who suffer from hunger live in developing countries, Asian and Pacific regions, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. (4)
An estimated 14m children under the age of 5 worldwide suffer from severe acute malnutrition (known as “severe wasting”) yet only 25% of acutely malnourished children have access to lifesaving treatment. (5)
Approximately 9 million people die of hunger each year according to world hunger statistics; more than the death toll for malaria, AIDs and tuberculosis combined in 2012. Every thirteen seconds, a child dies from the effects of hunger. (6)
Over 60% of the world's hungry are women, who have limited access to resources because of the patriarchal societies in which they live. This is a leading cause of death for children. (7)
Causes of Hunger
Hunger and malnutrition have many causes.
Poverty: Poverty is the number one cause of world hunger. Someone who is poor has insufficient money for food but also cannot provide for their own health and cannot invest in education for children.
Natural disasters: Weather extremes have always led to hunger crises. Droughts and floods destroy harvests. With climate change, extreme weather events are increasing.
Inequality: The inequality between rich and poor is increasing, globally and in individual countries. 1% of the global population possesses nearly half of the global wealth.
Biased global trade: Rich states determine the rules of international policy and unfair trade agreements work to the detriment of poorer non-industrial nations.
Poor governance: The governments in developing countries mostly do not align their policies to the needs of the poorest population and corruption is one of the greatest obstacles.
Waste of resources and climate change: If everyone in the world lived as the rich countries do, resources such as water and land would soon be exhausted.
Wars and Conflict: In 2020 alone, conflict was the primary driver of hunger for 99.1 million people in 23 countries. Economic downturns in countries has also affected food availability and decreased people’s ability to access food.
Sources
(1) Food crisis: 2.5 million South Africans experience hunger ‘every day’. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-26-food-crisis-2-5-million-south-africans-experience-hunger-every-day/
(2) World Food Programme
(3) https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics
(4) https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-world-hunger
(6) https://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/why-hunger/nutrition
(7) https://www.worldhunger.org/women-and-hunger-facts/
Thank You
No words can ever truly express the appreciation for your generousity and kindness. The words from our beneficiaries are perhaps the best, and the look in their eyes. For in their faces we see Christ who said to us ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
God bless and thank you!
How can you help?
Aware of the unprecedented and widespread pain and suffering caused by Covid-19 many people in our parish have asked – WHAT CAN I DO?
The Constantia Parish established the HUNGER IS REAL Fund in March 2020 (just before Easter), to fight the already growing hunger reality, and to be ready for a deepening and ongoing hunger crisis.
Through this fund we have the ability to channel resources to areas where the need is greatest.
Four ways to give and get involved:
- Donate
- Get Involved ... Soup Kitchen
- Get Involved ... Youth Project
- Spread the Word
CONSTANTIA CATHOLIC
HUNGER IS REAL FUND
Please show your support by donating to the HUNGER IS REAL Fund. You may do this by making an EFT to the below bank account:
Bank: Standard Bank
Account Name: Constantia Catholic Church
Branch Code: 025 309
Current Account No: 07 169 8965
SWIFT Code: SBZAZAJJ
Reference: HUNGER
OPTIONAL: If you wish to receive an acknowledgement or receipt, please include your name and details. If you wish to send a proof of payment, please send it to email materecl@constantiancatholic.co.za.
OUR PROMISE & GUARANTEE
The entire ring-fenced HUNGER fund is strictly administered by and accounted for by the Outreach Committee which is a part of the Parish Finance Council. We undertake only to co-operate with known and vetted projects and institutions and we guarantee that no money will be spent on admin; and that every cent donated will get to the needy, feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty.
UPDATE REPORT - 4 Nov 2021
Click here to download the update report.
