KNYSNA NEWS - A local initiative that has helped hundreds in the wake of the fire is the contribution being made by Daniela Dotan and her team at Ningmo Foods. Since June 9 this dynamic cordon bleu chef and her team have been taking care of the carers of fire victims.
They have produced and served more than 11 000 nutritious meals for hosting families and firefighting volunteers, at no charge, thanks to donations of fresh ingredients and other foodstuffs. Dotan’s creativity has enabled Ningmo Foods to put together balanced meals daily. Trained at the Silwood School of Cookery, her passion for food is such that she did not want this project to be “just another soup kitchen”.
“I am well aware of the financial constraints placed on friends and family, who suddenly have extra mouths to feed as they host victims of the fire. While there is relief available for the victims themselves at distribution points, in the form of clothing and foodstuffs, the hosting families were not receiving any direct aid. Living on Leisure Isle I know of many families who are hosting victims, because that part of town has not been affected by the fires,” Dotan says.
Once the volunteer firefighters for whom she was making meals had departed, she decided to concentrate her efforts on providing a meal a day to hosting families at no charge, using goods donated to her, and she has since branched out to simply supply to those who need a hot meal after battling to cope with the constraints of the day. Anybody can order.
She and her team have been spending four to six hours a day preparing these meals, which can be ordered and collected at Ningmo Foods in the Knysna Industrial Area where Dotan has her professional kitchen. She doubles up on the donated meals and the overstock can be bought for R20 a portion. The monies raised from this go back into purchasing stock.
She intends supplying these meals as long as she continues to receive donations and has been overwhelmed by the generosity of suppliers and individuals, locally as well as nationally.
Suppliers such as Eden Chickens, Barneys and Farm Fresh Direct who have donated fresh meat and vegetables, and other suppliers such as Soca, who have passed a discount on her supplies, are enabling her to carry on with her initiative.
Cash donations have also been received and, as long as they keep coming in, the team at Ningmo will keep up the good work in addition to serving their balanced and nutritious daily meals, which are sold on Tuesdays and Thursdays at R50 a portion, to pay the bills.
To facilitate delivery of meals, she is in the process of installing a freezer at the Knysna Primary School, which she will stock up with meals to be collected by those who are in need. She can be contacted at eat@ningmo.co.za or 082-868-8133.
Finally, for those who are wondering where her business got its name, she explains, “My son Jack could not pronounce the word 'flamingo'; he called them 'ningmos' and so Ningmo Foods was born, with its logo of two pink flamingos which her Facebook page “Ningmo Foods” sports.
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