The reality is that thousands of children go to school hungry every day, says Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at Pick n Pay. “The number of children needing support has grown dramatically during lockdown as parents or guardians have lost their jobs.

Together with these schools, we have identified children most in need and aim to support them with basic food and stationery essentials to start the year.”

Back-to-School Food Drive collection trolleys are in participating stores until 28 February 2021. Thereafter food hampers will be packed and delivered to the schools. Participating stores include:

§  Western Cape: Kenilworth, Wynberg, Constantia and Ottery Hyper

§  Eastern Cape: Baywest, CBD Uitenhage, Beacon Bay and William Moffet Hyper

§  Gauteng: Kensington, Southgate, Lonehill and Norwood Hyper

§  Northern region: Mall of the North, Polokwane, Hazeldean, Faerie Glen Hyper

§  Kwazulu-Natal: Queensburgh, Chatsworth, La Lucia and South Coast Hyper

The Back-to-School Food Drive beneficiary schools belong to the Pick n Pay School Club, a public-private educational platform that works with a network of schools to reach over two million learners and their families each year. “School Club has always provided a wide range of online educational resources for learners. During lockdown, additional support was provided in the form of arranging food hampers, and nearly four million meals have been provided to schools during the pandemic.”

Feed the Nation Foundation, which was established by Ackerman-Berman in April 2020, has played an integral role in achieving this by working with Pick n Pay School Club. Initially providing relief for schools whose feeding schemes came to a sudden halt at the start of lockdown, the Foundation’s efforts now focus on learners who have had to take on the responsibility of having to support their families and over 4,500 child-headed households have been supported to date.

“This latest donation of food hampers by Feed the Nation Foundations and our customers means more children can focus on their studies rather than where their next meal might come from,” concludes Ackerman-Berman.

Customers can donate towards the Feed the Nation Foundation any time at any till point in our stores. All these funds are spent directly on helping feed our nation and those left most vulnerable during this crisis.