It is a constantly rewarding experience to profile the work of our beneficiary organisations, especially those doing critical developmental work such as education. Valerie van der Merwe, our National Fundraiser, recently took representatives from one of our corporate funders, Coronation Fund Managers, on a visit to the Destiny By Faith (DBF) Foundation.
On a mission to serve
The Destiny By Faith (DBF) Foundation, located in Ottery, Cape Town, was established in 2018 as a non-profit organisation under the auspices of the local church New Faith Ottery. Their mission is to serve the underprivileged in the surrounding communities and together with the church, they provide junior and senior youth workshops in arts, education, and the environment, amongst others. Much of DBF’s resources go towards childhood development. DBF also has a daily feeding scheme to ensure that vulnerable individuals receive nutritious meals. Through these activities, DBF aims to uplift and have a positive impact on the lives of the most vulnerable children and families in the surrounding communities.
Partnership with FoodForward SA
DBF has been one of FoodForward SA’s beneficiary organisations for the past three years. Once a month, they collect their allocation of fresh produce, staples, and grocery items from our warehouse in Lansdowne, Cape Town. Says Valerie: “When one enters DBF’s premises it shows that the DBF family are movers and shakers in the community. The secondhand clothes shop is bustling with activity, people are busy setting up benches for the children who will come for the afterschool programme and some of the youth are busy planning the school holiday programme.”
DBF has an incredible passion and love for the children within their care. This is evidenced by the fact that many of DBF’s team have had their own children enrolled in one or other of their afterschool programs. From Monday through to Friday, the children (about 80 children aged 4 to 15) arrive early in the morning, before school, and they are served a nutritious breakfast consisting of porridge, a sandwich and fruit. In the afternoons, before they start with their afterschool activities, the children enjoy a nutritious lunch, which re-energises them to commence with literacy, numeracy and art activities, which include indigenous games and storytelling. DBF also has raises funds by having special events held on public holidays.
A focus on the younger generation
Abigail Segers, the founder of DBF says: “We here at DBF Foundation, a non-racial organisation, have taken the initiative to serve the underprivileged communities around us. We have opened our hearts to these communities, especially the younger generation. We also have a daily Tutoring Lodge where we assist kids with homework, school projects, reading, writing, speech and so on. FoodForward SA is our biggest sponsor in supplying nutritional meals for our kids as we are facing so much hunger within our communities our kids, they lose their focus on achieving their purpose, But DBF focuses on being purpose-driven and with your support we can. We have implemented so many projects to keep our youth busy and off the streets and we are so passionate about their education that the centre is always buzzing. We at DBF say thank you as a child is fed they are open to improving their livelihood through the extra programs we offer at the centre.”
FoodForward SA is proud to have DBF as one of more than 2,500 beneficiary organisations in our network. The partnership demonstrates how our foodbanking model serves as a critical lever for transforming the lives of vulnerable children.
Donate to FoodForward SA and help us continue to support organisations like the DBF Foundation.
