KNYSNA NEWS - More than three and a half years after it was founded, the Soutana community garden and soup kitchen is still running strong and providing much-needed help to members of the White Location community.
Soutana was opened in June 2020 by local non-profit organisation Sparking Minds co-founder Raphaël Ceillier and a group of volunteers, which included Ceillier's long-time friend and co-alumnus of Oakhill School, Joshua Buchalter.
Together the group was able to open a further two feeding schemes which on average provided roughly 500 free meals to members of community at the time.
Of the three, Soutana was the biggest operation by some distance and it has taken a mammoth effort to keep going for nearly four years.
Growing Soutana from afar
One of two of the Sparking Minds feeding schemes still in operation, Soutana is headed up by Streli Ngqula who ensures new veggies are planted and that the crops are used for the community.
While Buchalter and Ceillier are now both based overseas - Israel and the UK, respectively - they continue to assist their passion projects from afar.
"We assist with overseeing new donations and the general needs of maintenance.
"We are in Knysna roughly once a year and visit the gardens and deliver any essential items or goods needed for preparing the meals," Buchalter said.
"Donations go a very long way, whether it is a donation of items relevant for the projects - anything relating to growing vegetables or cooking soup - or financial contributions."
Achieving valuable goals
He also touched on how the two remaining food schemes have managed to achieve the initial goals set out by Sparking Minds.
"When starting, we had two primary goals - establish a sustainable food production scheme and instil confidence and independence into the individuals managing them.
"This has been achieved for the two gardens where soup production is still being done multiple times per week," he explained.
The other soup kitchen still in operation is in the Brackenhill community, and has also expanded since its founding.
Theresa Janklaas, who lives in the community, is putting in extensive effort to ensure food continues to be available for those in need.
Two to three times a year, Growing Upwards - another local NPO - visits the garden to support the production. Additionally, PG Bison generously donates gas for the kitchen.
Key growth and production
The number of meals provided each week has fluctuated, peaking at around 750 when donations and production were high.
Currently, the two functioning schemes provide roughly 400 meals per week. Since the start in June 2020, over 50 000 free meals have been provided between the various feeding schemes.
"It's something we're extremely proud of," Buchalter said.
"Being able to positively influence a community, over an extended period of time such as 3,5 years (and counting), is among the most rewarding things.
"Knowing that the work and effort we put into this project continues to benefit people inspires us to continue doing more in other capacities!"
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