Help Masicorp feed preschoolers

Masicorp, a non-profit, participated in Giving Tuesday on Tuesday November 29.

According to Masicorp spokesman Graig Meyer, Giving Tuesday is a global movement that has seen people around the world mobilise to empower their local communities to act with radical generosity.

Mr Meyer said Masicorp’s Giving Tuesday campaign, which will run for the entire week, is focused on feeding preschool children healthy meals so that they can keep learning.

He said Masicorp’s preschool feeding programme provides children with two hot, nutritious meals daily as well as fruit snacks to keep energy levels high.

“Early childhood education is close to our hearts because we understand that the formative years are the building blocks that give children a solid grounding. We noticed a need for feeding and since 2020 we have adopted a programme that has served over a million meals,” he said.

For many children living in Masiphumelele, hunger was normal and parents worked long hours only to afford basic needs, he said.

Many children would go to bed hungry and were expected to learn at school the next day.

Principal of Chasmay Educare Doiline Maisiri said: “We noticed that the children attending our ECD centres could not focus, were irritable and were moody before we started feeding them healthy meals every day. You can see when children are hungry. They cry or sleep and this is heartbreaking for me as a principal.”

Mr Meyer said that thanks to the feeding programme, the children were now attentive in class and their attendance rate was well above 90%.

“Before we started the feeding programme, that figure was only hovering around 60%. This improvement has not only had a positive impact on the children but also on the teachers,” he said.

A Grade R teacher at Chasmay Educare, Priscilla Mboyana, said: “The feeding programme at Chasmay Educare has helped me manage the children in my classroom better because now they are interested in what I am teaching. It has made my teaching time far more interactive and educational.”

Mr Meyer said R150 could provide a child with a healthy meal every day for a month at one of Masicorp’s ECDs.

To make a contribution or to find out more about Giving Tuesday, visit www.masicorp.org or call 021 785 1923.