Cape Town - With Mandela Day around the corner, children and volunteers of the South African Scout Movement are fulfilling this year's global theme of “Do what you can, with what you have, wherever you, are in a jar of hope”.
Putting together care packages for local families in need, the 1st Muizenberg, Blaauwberg, Edgemead and Tableview Scout Groups are planning to distribute warm meal ingredients through their Jars of Hope initiative. These include lentils, rice, split peas, soup mix and other nutritious ingredients to form a delightful and healthy dinner for four people per jar.
Marihett Bredenkamp of 1st Muizenberg Scout Group’s Meerkats Den said more than 60 Jars of Hope were made, which will help make over 240 warm meals in preparation for their Mandela Day community service project.
“When the challenge was issued to Scout Groups to show their communities they care, we were excited to be part of it again. The Meerkats managed to make over 60 jars this year that will be donated to a local charity that serves our community.
“With children making the jars themselves, they get to learn at a young age that if you have something to give, you can help another family by doing small things. These projects also open doors for discussions around poverty and service to others within the families of our members,” said Bredenkamp.
Charmaine de Kock, Pack scouter of 1st Tableview Cub Pack, who is leading the drive to put together Jars of Hope for the communities in which the 1st Blaauwberg, 1st Edgemead and 1st Tableview Scout Groups operate, added that this initiative will not only help the community, but also teach the children how to appreciate what they have at home.
With the spirit of charity in the air, Scouts South Africa Chief Scout Khonzaphi Mdaka said given that community service is an integral part of the promise scouts make, it is also integrated in the child and youth development programmes.
“July is a month in which we always actively encourage service in honour of Nelson Mandela, who was also the Patron of the South African Scout Movement. For most of us life is hard, and hope is easily lost. As a youth movement we want to remind people and local charities that there are people out there who care. So, we have been calling upon our Scouting members to put together care packages or Jars of Hope for people or organisations in need of some assistance.
“Learning the value of service, of giving, of kindness and respect, are vital life lessons for good citizenship and humanity,” said Mdaka.