Bok captain Kolisi brings food for Knysna

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KNYSNA NEWS - World Cup-winning Springbok captain Siya Kolisi along with his wife Rachel last week made a donation of 200 food parcels to those in need in Knysna, as part of their Kolisi Foundation drives.

Prior to the nationwide lockdown, the couple was in the early phases of piecing together their foundation with an official launch seemingly only months away.

This process was however sped up, and due to the situation the country found itself in, the Kolisis refused to sit on their hands and watch the nation cry for help, leading to the early birth of the foundation in March. The main focus of the Kolisi Foundation has thus far been to provide sustainable food relief to South Africans, focusing on child-headed households, orphans, and the vulnerable.

More photos: Kolisi foundation donates 200 food parcels

"It changes you, it changes how think. It doesn't matter how small it is. Just do something for someone else and see how it makes you feel. It is driving me right now," Siya said. Rachel is also fully committed to the project: "Just to focus on the one heart, and the one person and the one life that you are changing and remembering that that counts – that is more important than anything else," she said.

Since the start of their work during the Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa, more than 30 000 individuals have received food parcels (each enough to last a month) and their focus is on continuity and supporting those families for a three-month period. According to the organisation's Anica Potgieter, they felt the need to lend a hand in Knysna after making contact with a local resident. "Jeff Grylls financially aided the food drop and connected us with the Leisure Island Residents' Association (Lira) as they had started an initiative to assist the community during lockdown," she said.

Through Lira, the Kolisi Foundation was connected to a small soccer club based at Loerie Park aimed at developing local and upcoming soccer players, Grassroots Soccer. "The coaches at the club saw that the players and their families were really struggling and needed help," Potgieter said. The foundation heeded the call, and the subsequent food drop was part of the #Each1Feed1 initiative in partnership with the Imbumba and Nelson Mandela foundations, with a small R100 donation being sufficient to provide food for one person for a month. "Through partnerships we are able to provide more value, otherwise it is impossible to get that amount of food for R100. We mostly pack them in parcels for a family of six," Potgieter explained.

The food was dropped off on Thursday 21 May at Leisure Isle Bowling Club, where the parcels were packed and subsequently distributed to a few townships around Knysna. According to Potgieter, the Kolisis were touched by what they encountered. "Overall Siya and Rachel noticed something that warmed their hearts – the presence of husbands and father figures at home," she said. "This is significant as South Africa has one of the highest rates of fatherlessness in the world. Having positive male role models and father figures at home plays a very significant part in a child's development," she noted.

The food was offloaded and packed at Leisure Isle Bowling Club.