What we do

One in four South African children is so chronically malnourished that they are classified as stunted.

This means that those children are prone to suffer ill health, hypertension, diabetes and are likely to become obese later in life due to the permanent damage to their metabolic systems.

As bad as this is, there is worse:
In a country where access to food is a constitutional right, 7,500 children under the age of five die annually – not because of the long-term effects of malnutrition on their immune systems – but as a direct result of hunger.

That is one child every hour 365 days a year – literally starving to death!

And yet a third of all food produced in South Africa is wasted or ends up on landfills.

SOUL FOOD is the primary project of the Soul Provider Trust and its purpose is simply to feed the starving – with particular focus on students and school children.

Experience has revealed that it is almost impossible for young adults and children to learn anything or engage in extra-curricular activities like sport when they are desperately hungry.

Essentially SOUL FOOD is a logistics operation. We collect surplus food from farms, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, food manufacturers, supermarkets and stores.

We then deliver this food to hundreds of schools (and in the holidays to orphanages, shelters, old age homes and places of refuge).

Every day, the SOUL FOOD project feeds about 75,000 school children, orphans, pensioners and abused women, the destitute, sick and terminally ill.

This is currently 19 million meals a year or 1,5 million a month.

Our Purpose

The Purpose of the Soul Food project is to combat child malnutrition and stunting in targeted communities, in a measurable manner and in partnerships, by providing essential nourishment.

Our Vision

An effective, compliant operating model with efficient processes, advanced systems and strong distribution infrastructure.

A clear, robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework supported by meaningful indicators.

An aligned, motivated, supported and empowered staff and volunteer team, with a clear succession plan, enabled by a cohesive, compassionate and purpose-driven organisational culture.

Achieving growth and scale through expanding our programmes and geographic reach.

To become nationally recognised and trusted leader in child-focussed hunger relief, actively influencing policy, forging partnerships across South Africa.

Strengthening long-term sustainability through alignments with diversified funders.