In August 2020, the Stellenbosch based winery, Journey’s End, launched their latest community project to tackle hunger and extreme poverty in the Helderberg Region.
The Journey’s End Foundation, which was established by Rollo Gabb, MD, and his team, have reached the milestone of providing 500 000 charitable meals to support the local community with the aim of serving one million meals by the end of 2021.
According to Harpers.co.uk and goodthingsguy, the foundation funds the ingredients, equipment, gas and infrastructure for these meals, which are in turn funded by Journey’s End Vineyards and the Gabb family, who purchased the vineyards in 1996.
Initially, the Foundation was committed to provide 8 000 meals per week for the entire year. The goal was to reach 10 00 people by the end of October, however, this target was reached in mid-October with the help of a network of nine soup kitchens run by a group of local volunteers.
The JEF, who is now serving over 20 000 meals per week, has been recognised for their work by The Drinks Business Green Awards as The Ethical Company of the Year for 2020, goodthingsguy says.
“We are incredibly proud of the Journey’s End Foundation team, especially on the ground. Without the inspiring local women who cook and serve the food, we would not have been able to make this a reality.
“We are now providing over 20,000 meals a week which is far beyond what we initially set out to do. Our goal is to provide 1,000,000 meals by the end of this year and then continue to scale up the program to provide ongoing assistance in future.
“There is a sense of urgency that we can and should be doing more, and that is exactly what we plan to do. We look forward to seeing the programme grow and deeply hope we can continue to make a difference to those most in need,” Gabb says.
Hettie Orffer, who manages the soup kitchens and works closely with Journey’s End Foundation, says, “I have worked alongside Journey’s End for years on community support programmes, such as the ‘Beat the Bully’ campaign, which aims to eradicate bullying in townships through education.
“It is such a privilege to now be helping to run Journey’s End Foundation’s soup kitchens. The last year has been particularly devastating with lack of jobs, illness and the increasing poverty, so to be able to ease some of the pressure by providing daily meals is a blessing, and the need to continue is evident,” she adds.
Having seen the impact the food programme has made, Journey’s End and the Foundation has committed to continue its support indefinitely.
Picture: Journey’s End