Jar of hope

The Jar of Hope project of the Rotary Club of Potchefstroom Mooi (D9370) and King Edward Private School brought rays of hope to members of the local community this Mandela Day. when over 800 Jars of Hope were distributed, each one filled with enough dry ingredients to make eight servings of sustaining, protein-rich soup.

The Jar of Hope project runs for 67 days in winter, during which time non-perishable ingredients and glass jars are collected. The jars are then filled and labelled with instructions for making the soup. Finally, the Jars of Hope are distributed throughout the JB Marks municipality to the elderly, SASSA beneficiaries and others in need. In addition, bulk ingredients are donated to homes for the aged, orphanages and similar organisations that provide meals to their residents. The first deliveries are made early in July, with various team members continuing to make deliveries until 5 August.

Whenever possible, they capture the smiles and excitement of the recipients on camera.

True to the spirit of the local community, businesses and individuals rose to the occasion. Their generous donations enabled the Potch Mooi-King Edward team to exceed their  target of 670 Jars of Hope. An impressive 840 jars, along with quantities of bulk ingredients, were distributed, providing enough to serve 9,440 nutritious meals – this number of meals would feed one person once a day for 25 years!

The projects also has an educational aspect, as it is incorporated into the King Edward School curriculum, covering topics such as recycling and nutrition. In this way, the Jars of Hope initiative honours Nelson Mandela, who strongly belived in the power of education, which he famously said, “more than anything else, improves your chances of building better lives.”