About
"Not all of us can do great things.
But we can do SMALL things with GREAT love." - Mother Teresa
Mothers That Care is an organisation made up of 100 or so housewives who have dedicated their mornings to preparing sandwiches to ensure children whose parents can't afford to send them to school with lunch, have something to eat during lunch break.
Founder Karen Oliveira said the organisation started in 2010 with five women in her West Beach home. It has now grown to include areas such as Bloubergstrand, Melkbostrand, Dunoon, Table View, Milnerton, and West Beach.
Each group comes together on a specific day of the week, bringing along their donation of bread, sandwich spreads and margarine. Most of these sandwiches are placed in a plastic bag to keep them fresh and are distributed to schools including Buren High, Ysterplaat junior and senior primaries, De Grendel School, Bloubergridge Primary, Sunningdale Primary, Blouberg High and West Riding Primary.
Founder Karen Oliveira said the organisation started in 2010 with five women in her West Beach home. It has now grown to include areas such as Bloubergstrand, Melkbostrand, Dunoon, Table View, Milnerton, and West Beach.
Each group comes together on a specific day of the week, bringing along their donation of bread, sandwich spreads and margarine. Most of these sandwiches are placed in a plastic bag to keep them fresh and are distributed to schools including Buren High, Ysterplaat junior and senior primaries, De Grendel School, Bloubergridge Primary, Sunningdale Primary, Blouberg High and West Riding Primary.
In 2010 Karen was saddened by the knowledge that children resorted to stealing food out of sheer hunger, she emailed everyone she knew asking those who were not working to join her in preparing lunch for the school. Ten women showed up on the first morning and together they made 200 sandwiches.
“The first time we handed out sandwiches to a school in Brooklyn, I needed teachers to come and help me to control the crowd. They were so hungry. They didn’t want to miss out on the sandwiches,” she said.
Karen said she was amazed by how big the organisation had grown. “I haven’t promoted it in anyway. I just had the idea and everyone ran with it. I feel privileged to help others but it's a drop in the ocean,” she said.
“The first time we handed out sandwiches to a school in Brooklyn, I needed teachers to come and help me to control the crowd. They were so hungry. They didn’t want to miss out on the sandwiches,” she said.
Karen said she was amazed by how big the organisation had grown. “I haven’t promoted it in anyway. I just had the idea and everyone ran with it. I feel privileged to help others but it's a drop in the ocean,” she said.