Willowbridge 5 cent: PROJECT

Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief organization that coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world. The organization is driven by a vision of a world without hunger and a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world's most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.
Stop Hunger Now’s meal packaging program provides volunteers the opportunity to package dehydrated, high protein, and highly nutritious meals that are used in crisis situations and in school feeding programs for schools and orphanages in developing countries around the world.



From the 1st of April 5 cent coins were discontinued. So they started asking people "what are you going to do with the ones you still have left in your purse or lying around?" and educating them that with one 5 cent coin they won’t be able to buy a meal, but put 40 of them together, and they can indeed. Stop Hunger, in cooperation with Willowbridge Shopping Centre and Radio Tygerberg, invited the public and schools to help them to collect one million 5 cent coins, with which they would be able to finance 25 000 meals.

The response was phenomenal!  They aimed to collect 1 million 5cent pieces and ended up collecting 1,488,663 x 5cent pieces which means they were able to donate R74 433.15 towards Stop Hunger Now which paid for 37 216 meals.  

On the 20th of June personnel from Willowbridge Shopping Centre and Radio Tygerberg joined Stop Hunger Now in Crossroads for the meal distribution at 3 creches in the area.  The big brown eyes that watched us in anticipation as boxes of food (and hope) were delivered and the "thank you's" afterwards touched everyone's hearts.  And as the old 5cent greeted the new day for the last time, we knew it brought care and satisfaction to many hungry tummies of those in desperate need.