Community hero helps 100 Freedom Park families
On Wednesday, 27 May, approximately 100 families from the informal settlement community of Freedom Park, collected parcels containing food and other essential items from Christel House South Africa, a non-profit school based in Ottery.
The initiative, which was spearheaded by Mr Randall Daniels, the Engineering Graphics and Design (EGD) and Technology Teacher at Christel House SA, saw community members lining up to receive the much-needed parcels with social distancing measures in place and with the permission of local police. With fundraising support from Christel House SA, Mr Daniels’ project recently received a R100 000 donation from an anonymous donor, which will be used to provide these families with weekly food parcels for the next eight weeks.
One of the community members, Roseline Williams expressed her appreciation for the parcels. “This lockdown period has been tough for many people, including myself. I usually do domestic work, but since I cannot work right now, me and my family are really struggling to make ends meet. I would just like to say thank you so much to everyone involved in this project. I really appreciate the help,” said Mrs Williams.
The project would not have been possible without Mr Daniels, who has been actively involved in donating to the Freedom Park community since joining Christel House as a Consumer Studies Teacher in 2006. He taught students to give back and hone their culinary skills at the same time by asking each student to bring a vegetable along to class. Together, the class prepared soup with the ingredients and handed it out in the community.
Mr Daniels has been providing 100 families in both Freedom Park and Jim Se Bos with meals three days per week since the lockdown started. “I started helping out in the community because I noticed a need for it and I simply couldn’t do nothing when there’s people who don’t have anything. It’s also part of our school’s core values, so I try to lead by example,” said Mr Daniels.
