The Bedfordview Safety Forum (BSF) initiated food drive, which kicked off on 4 April, has been a huge success, with 13,330 parcels having been assembled to the value of R2,713,380, and just over 110 tons of food having been donated, which equals approximately 373,251 meals.
The food drive was held in conjunction with the BSF, Bedfordview Community Policing Forum (BCPF) and the Order of St John and run by Bedfordview volunteers. The drive was aimed to assist destitute families in and around neighbouring areas.
View Today profiles some of the key volunteers of the food drive:Â
Dr Renate Volpe
Social Justice innovator and activist Dr Volpe was born and raised in Johannesburg. She is a St John volunteer, an entrepreneur and founder of Believe South Africa, an organisation that stands for gender equality. Dr Volpe has authored multiple books, and her most recent co-authored publication is Senseless Sacrifice, Givers and Takers In Relationships. Her focus is safety for women and her primary interest is emotional abuse (as in the dance between narcissists and co-dependents.) ‘I feel the world’s pain and try to make a difference to my fellow human and animal travellers,’ said Volpe.
Alta de Beer
Born in Pretoria, de Beer now resides in Bedfordview. She is also a St John volunteer and her passion is to work towards an equal opportunity society, support those in need within her own boundaries and to create awareness about the impact of pollution – especially air pollution – on our day to day lives.
Her goal for the communities she serves is to identify where help is needed, especially during the Covid-19 epidemic. ‘If we all contribute, whether it is in kindness, caring, volunteer time, or financially, in the end it will assist to move mountains and bring dignity back to those who never before had to ask for any assistance. Covid-19 caught many people and small business owners off guard.’
George Woods
Woods was born in Johannesburg and lives in Bedfordview. His passion is a changing society based on kindness, compassion, empathy and acceptance. ‘We need to use what we have – a gifted community – to make sure that we make a lasting positive impact on socially disadvantaged communities,’ he said. ‘We need to reflect on how socially advantaged we are and use this to help socially disadvantaged communities to be emotionally liberated and free, as well as economically enabled’.
DA Councillor, Jill Humpreys said, ‘This project has been a fine example of the community working together to achieve phenomenal success. Thanks must go to the leader of this volunteer team, Dr Volpe, whose magnetic warmth and her passion for community marshalled into being a volunteer team that bonded and performed with military efficiency. They did this for the sheer joy of working together and making a meaningful contribution.
‘Alta de Beer is a DA Ward Councillor in her own enormous and challenging ward 39. Taking on this project has been testimony of her superb project management skills and her kind and caring nature.’
‘I also thank the numerous generous Bedfordview residents who donated to our bank accounts, knitted blankets, donated clothing, bedding, made 10,000 masks (the BCPF ‘Masketeers’) and dropped off mountains of food and sanitary goods. The ‘milk of human kindness’ is flowing strongly in our lovely community,’ concluded Humphreys.
 Thanks also go to:
- The BCPF.
- Alison Grobelaar.
- Harry Gey Von Pittius.
- Marco De Oliviera.
- Louis Freitas and the Freedom Supermarket.
- SPAR Bedfordview.
- Arbor Village (for their home-baked biscuits).
- Christina Kyriacou, Saheti School, and the Greek Community.
- The Schauenburg group.
The future of the Food Depo
According to Humpreys, the levels of poverty and the need for assistance will not diminish as we go forward. If ad hoc donations are received, these will be dealt with by a new chapter of the Food Depo on an ad hoc basis.
The BSF has a sustainable future in mind for the Food Depo and their focus is on the organic farming initiative. All enquiries going forward should be addressed to the BSF.
BEDFORDVIEW SAFETY FORUM
bedfordviewsafetyforum.org.za
