At The Lunchbox Fund, we have a goal of supporting students nutritionally, so they may succeed academically. A fed child has higher concentration levels and a greater desire to learn. In South Africa over 13 million children live in poverty. In schools, scores for literacy, reading, and numeracy tests are continuously low among students. The link between adequate nutrition and academic success is difficult to ignore.

Sustainability in our programs is of paramount importance to us. We’re really excited about the organic food gardens we’ve begun to implement. One of the objectives of these gardens is to educate the children in food security, and whilst doing so, give them access to nutrient rich, sustainable food that they can produce themselves. As many students suffer from the crippling effects of HIV/AIDS, supplying them with a constant, healthy food supply is vital to maintaining health and boosting immune systems.

At our pilot school we’ve planted a variety of winter crops including spinach/chard, cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, carrots and leeks. Intercropped are herbs such as rosemary, parsley, lavender, comfrey and citronella. Community volunteers are responsible for garden maintenance, and are assisted by learners and one educator from the school. The social aspects of community gardens have far reaching positive impact. They help create a sense of community by offering a place where participants can gather, network and identify with one another. Since the gardens are organized by the community, they form a social network that is necessary for management, which results in socialization, an increased sense of community, and often increased self-confidence among the participants.

By offering this resource to the students, we are giving them a safe and healthy place to be, keeping them off the streets, away from violence and drugs, and giving them something that they can be proud of.

We thank Pure Bar for their commitment to our mission, and to the students. To help us build on the progress we are making, and to further extend our efforts in helping these impoverished and at-risk children, we encourage you to LIKE our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/thelunchboxfund and FOLLOW us on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/thelunchboxfund

Warmly,

Topaz Page-Green
Founder, The Lunchbox Fund

Photographs copyright © 2010 Jonx Pillemer