Add Hope empowers NGOs to make a difference

Dr. Marc Aguirre, country director for HOPE worldwide SA, explains that the funds they receive from Add Hope help them do an enormous amount of good as they can multiply the benefit through strong supplier partnerships. “We’ve set up a partnership with a national retailer who provides food at cost plus 1%, and delivers it to our sites for free. So R2 in our hands, buys the equivalent of much more. The funding is helping us to feed nearly 12,000 children at 132 early childhood development centres and in impoverished families.”

Challenge of poverty

Here in South Africa, HOPE worldwide has really focused attention on early childhood development (ECD). “Our caregivers and children in poverty face an enormous amount of challenges. Many of these children battle to get one decent meal a day. Many go to bed hungry, they go to school hungry, and that puts them at a major disadvantage. There is overwhelming evidence that what happens in early childhood lasts a lifetime and we need to reach children at this age.”

Dr. Aguirre says he is very motivated by the impact they see on children they reach at ECD centres and in communities. “We have hundreds of stories of lives that have been transformed. A little girl at one of the sites we support, literally went from skipping meals to skipping grades. She used to be hungry every day, but with the right nutrition, her marks improved dramatically and she went from Grade 1 to Grade 3. These stories really move me and we can really see the immense and positive impact the Add Hope funding is making in the lives of children.”

Transforming SA through ECD centres

Dr. Aguirre sounds the rallying call for supporting feeding initiatives in South Africa. “We are just one example of the reach that Add Hope has, and how the money donated can be put to good use for children in desperate need. I believe that we have a unique opportunity to transform SA through ECDs, and see every vulnerable child in this country having access to nutrition and stimulation. That will transform this country for the better, forever.”

To find out more about Add Hope, go to www.addhope.co.za.