Eating out houses the homeless

Launched in April this year under the patronage of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Streetsmart is recruiting restaurants to help raise funds in aid of The Homestead, Ons Plek and Learn to Live, organisations actively working with Cape Town's street children.

Funds are raised through participating restaurants by adding an optional R5 donation to each table's bill. This donation is voluntary and diners are able to contribute more if they wish.

The first ten participating restaurants in Streetsmart are: 3-Thirteen at The Peninsula Hotel, Emily's, Ginja, Harveys at Winchester Mansions, Mario's, Ritz Revolving Restaurant, Shoga, The Atlantic at The Table Bay Hotel, Wakame & Wasabi.

Streetsmart, which is also operational in San Francisco and Melbourne, was set up by a group of concerned Capetonians chaired by Margi Biggs who manages her own inbound tourism business.

To ensure that every cent donated by diners will go towards upliftment projects, Streetsmart Cape Town currently has Specialized Tours as the corporate sponsor to cover all administration costs.