Latest news with #soupkitchen
The Herald
12-08-2025
- General
- The Herald
Devoted Samaritan turns kindness into a calling
For the past nine years, Pinky Sekai from Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, has devoted her life to helping and restoring dignity to the most vulnerable members of her community even when she had little to give herself. It all started in 2016 when the then-unemployed, 56-year-old Sekai opened her door to elderly social grant recipients who were cold, hungry and waiting in long lines at their local Sassa paypoint. 'People would knock on my door asking for something to eat. I couldn't turn them away. I started cooking soup — even when I had very little myself,' she told Sowetan. She said she could not bear to see older people go without food while waiting to receive their grants. Sekai then started a soup kitchen from her home, focusing on the elderly who queued for hours to collect their grants. That simple act of kindness became the foundation of what is now a community-wide movement. Sekai said when the Sassa paypoint was later moved from the local community hall to another location, the soup kitchen had to close. Still, Sekai didn't give up. Instead, a nearby school offered her space to start a community garden, giving her a new way to support those in need. 'From those early soup days, we have grown into a full community-based organisation,' Sekai said. 'Today, what started as just me with a pot of soup has become a movement of hope, touching lives across Ga-Rankuwa and Soshanguve.' The project, now known as Northern Hope Gardens, supports more than 50 vulnerable families by growing fresh produce, which is shared with the community. But for Sekai, the garden is about more than food. 'It is about growing healing, purpose and self-sustainability,' she said. She has since brought together 10 unemployed women from the community who help maintain the garden.
Irish Times
31-07-2025
- Irish Times
Man and woman arrested in connection with the death of homeless woman released without charge
A file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after a man and a woman were held for questioning in connection with the death of a 36-year-old woman who was attacked at a soup kitchen in Cork city centre last year. Vanessa O'Callaghan had just been given some food and a sleeping bag by a member of the Kindness Krew volunteer group when she was set upon in Patrick Street on December 1st, 2024. She was assaulted by up to three people. [ Public raise funds to pay funeral costs of woman (36) who was assaulted as she left soup kitchen in Cork Opens in new window ] One of the volunteers rushed to her assistance and began CPR before paramedics arrived. She died at Cork University Hospital (CUH) three days later. On Wednesday a man and a woman in their thirties were arrested in connection with the death of Ms O'Callaghan. They were held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in Cork. They have been released without charge. Investigations are continuing. READ MORE Ms O'Callaghan was predeceased by her three brothers and her father. Linda O'Callaghan told Cork's 96FM that her sister had spent time on the streets of Cork. She described saying goodbye to her sister in hospital. 'I told her to sleep easy. I said 'at least you are in a bed now today girl' because she was in a nice bed ... Marcella [her sister] spoke to her. We talked about when she was young. [ 'Cork has lost a gem': Warm tributes to woman fatally assaulted after leaving soup kitchen Opens in new window ] '[She is in a better place] from the life she has been leading the last 20 odd years. She is safe now in the arms of her dad and her brothers.' Ms O'Callaghan was laid to rest at St Catherine's cemetery in Kilcully on December 10th, 2024 following mass at St Peter and St Paul's Church in Cork city centre. Volunteers at the soup kitchen said the mother of three was a 'quiet and mannerly' woman.
The National
25-07-2025
- General
- The National
GoFundMe-backed Gaza Soup Kitchen struggles to feed starving Palestinians as supplies run out
On a warm Saturday morning in Gaza city, Saleh Sadda, 10, joins hundreds of others holding pans and waiting for food at a soup kitchen. It is the only reliable source of nourishment for his family of five, displaced from the north of the enclave and now living near Gaza's port, once a centre for trade, now a place of survival. 'Every day I get food from the soup kitchen for my family,' Saleh told The National. 'We come here because we have no money. Prices are high, people have no food.' The Gaza Soup Kitchen has been a lifeline for many since it launched in February last year, offering hot meals to thousands of people every day. But it is now struggling, as food runs out in the enclave. Until recently, the operation served meals at 10 locations, including in Sheikh Radwan, Shati camp, Al Nasr, Rimal and its northernmost spot, Al Saftawi. This week, only five locations could open. Some are operating at just 70 per cent capacity because ingredients are increasingly scarce. 'It's difficult to secure supplies,' said Samah Almadhoun, one of the lead chefs, as she prepared lentils and carrots. 'Sometimes things aren't available, or they're too expensive.' The kitchens have about 60 staff. Samah cooked alongside her husband and children, while her sister Fatin prepared rice and macaroni at a separate site. Their mother made mulukhiyah, a leafy green vegetable soup, in a bare building before distributing it to families nearby. 'Yesterday we made rummaniyeh [lentil and eggplant stew],' Samah said. 'We make vegetable soup with bulgur or rice. We make summaghiyyeh [sumac stew]. Whatever we find in the market, we buy and cook.' Global support, local impact Despite the hardship, the kitchens have continued to operate amid Israel's war on Gaza, thanks in part to a GoFundMe campaign launched by Samah's brother, Hani, a Palestinian-American who lives in Virginia. The campaign has raised over $4 million so far, funds used to buy ingredients such as cooking oil and support staff in Gaza. Their family, based in the north of Gaza, paid a heavy price in the war. Two of Hani's brothers have been killed. Four of his nieces are dead. Two more were critically injured. He said everyone he knows is displaced, and many are starving. Born in the UAE, Hani, 44, is senior director of philanthropy at UNRWA USA, which provides support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. His family moved to Gaza when he was still in school to reconnect with their roots. Later, he earned a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in international and Latin American studies from Brigham Young University, before settling in Washington, DC. There, he began fundraising for civil rights groups, Arab and Muslim-American organisations, and Palestinian relief efforts. Now living in Annandale, Virginia, Hani brings his fundraising experience to the Gaza Soup Kitchen. 'My brother, Mahmoud, and his friends started it in Beit Lahia to serve hot meals to neighbours,' he said. They began with four pots and a fire fuelled by scavenged wood. They dug up potatoes, bought tomato paste and cooking oil, and within hours, 120 families were fed. The next day, they served 150. Word spread quickly and demand surged. Mahmoud went out again, this time returning with leafy greens, onions and mushrooms, and cooked another nourishing dish. Hani launched the GoFundMe campaign and by July 2024, the Gaza Soup Kitchen was officially registered as a non-profit group in the US. Transferring funds into Gaza remains a major challenge. Hani sends $15,000 every morning, navigating a complex and costly process. 'The funds go into our Gaza Soup Kitchen's US bank account,' he explained. 'From there, we use a mix of digital platforms and cash apps to move the money. But there are daily limits, so we have to use several methods.' Once the money reaches exchange shops in Gaza, it is handed to Hani's family, after a hefty cut is taken. The fees range from 25 per cent to 40 per cent, meaning a $1,000 transfer might result in only $600 in cash being received. With no new bank accounts allowed in Gaza, the soup kitchen cannot open a local account, Hani added. As Israel's war continues, Gaza's food supply is disappearing. Sugar now costs $100 per kilogram. A single kilogram of flour costs about $20. Aid is trickling in. Exchange fees, inflated prices and disrupted supply chains are making it harder to stretch every dollar. 'Unfortunately, that's the price you pay to keep people from starving,' Hani said. 'It's worth it because in some communities, children are collapsing from hunger. The elderly too.' Despite the millions raised, not all the funds have been transferred yet. So far, more than $2 million in cash has made its way into Gaza to keep the kitchens running. 'The bottleneck is how much we can send in a day,' Hani explained. 'If I could wire $1 million tomorrow, I would. But because of the limitations in the bank, we are only able to send a certain amount.' He sends only what is needed to keep operations going, carefully balancing against fees and local prices. Some of the funds are also used to distribute drinking water and offer medical support. In one case, Hani recalled, a person collapsed while waiting for food. 'We have a medical point next to one of our kitchens," he added. "Our doctors hooked them up to an IV because it was too late for a meal. They needed medical intervention.' Cooking through scarcity Sourcing ingredients is another daily struggle, as Israel has severely limited how much food is allowed into the enclave. 'We do not bring anything from outside. This is not our model,' Hani said. 'What we do is two things: we buy from the few farmers still growing produce – about 5 per cent of farms are functional – and we source locally from what's left in the market.' The team, which is based in the north, gathers ingredients from the south of Gaza. They send people to carry bags filled with produce to the north. 'Secondly, there is no supermarket any more,' Hani explained. "There are stalls in the market. We ask around: 'Hey, I need 100kg of lentils. Do you have it?' The guy says, 'Yes, we have a dealer for lentils. We have a dealer for cooking oil.' Whatever we can get, we buy and cook.' In winter, they cook with foraged greens such as mallow. Right now, the team is struggling to find basic staples including potatoes and carrots. More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, and Oxfam, have warned that mass starvation is spreading across Gaza. On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said a 'large proportion' of Gaza's population was starving. 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation – and it's man-made,' he said. Israel, however, denies blocking aid. 'In Gaza today, there is no famine caused by Israel,' said government spokesman David Mencer. 'There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas.' For Hani, the goal is simple, and heartbreaking. 'I just want the genocide to end,' he said. 'I'm fine with closing shop. We only exist to solve a problem. If the problem is being handled by others, we'll step back. But right now, this work gives our team purpose. They're exhausted, but every day they cook and feel inspired. And everybody just wants that purpose.'
Independent Singapore
05-07-2025
- General
- Independent Singapore
‘I survived on Indomie and cucumbers': When you're broke in Singapore, what do you eat?
SINGAPORE: It started with an unpretentious, level-headed question posted on Reddit: 'What should a Singaporean eat if they've gone broke?' The user who posted the question provided a rather miserable answer of his own — an 'endurance kit' comprising Indomie instant noodles, one cucumber split across three meals, some bread, and Milo. A little pathetic, a little tear-jerking — but it touched a nerve. The thread rapidly took off, becoming an unusually bolstering joint confessional. From frugal food hacks to community resources, fellow Singaporeans weighed in, providing guidance, compassion, and tales of resilience. Community before calories One suggestion didn't involve food from a store at all: 'Queue up at a Sikh temple for free meals. They have it 3x a day.' Langar, the practice of offering free meals at Sikh place of worship, has long been a silent pillar of support for the famished. In a country where 'dignity' and pride can occasionally stop people from asking for help, the idea that such support is present is both practical and profoundly sympathetic. Another commenter built on this spirit of kindness and genuine care: 'I think I would go to temples to get free meals, or look for soup kitchens. You need the nutrients and don't want to end up with medical conditions due to deficiencies and end up saddled with medical bills.' The message is clear: rudimentary nutrition is important, not just for endurance, but to evade a downhill spiral into health emergencies that can be more expensive than food. Hacks from the hungry However, not everyone who participated in the thread was penniless. Countless others knew what it felt like to stretch a dollar until it pleaded for mercy. And their imagination and resourcefulness were apparent. A user recommended: 'Get packet instead of cup instant noodles, and the extra saved can get cheap add-ons like eggs, imitation crab sticks, and some fresh veggies.' It's the type of logic born out of inexpensive grocery trips and hawker-centre economics. Another shared a time-tested and validated technique: 'I used to buy those red bean bun packets that had like 6 inside and tried to make it last for two days. I remember it was like $1.80 back then. Now don't know if $2 can cover.' Inflation has made these recollections feel like wistfulness from another age, but the approach — make small things stretch — still works. Others took a somewhat darker, more cynical attitude. One commenter, countering the cucumber idea, remarked flatly: 'Wa cucumber ah, I think I rather drink water and save the money to buy something else.' Broke in body, spirit, and energy Not all responses were firmly about financial difficulty. One predominantly touching response came from a student who depicted a different kind of destitution — emotional burnout: 'Wasn't 'broke' broke in terms of bank, but broke in terms of spirit and energy… I kept a container of instant oats in my dorm room… some weeks, almost the entire week.' Now and then, being broke isn't just about the wallet; it's about mental reserves, social investment, and the resolve to carry on. Their nourishment consisted of oats, hot water, the sporadic raisin or chocolate bar taken from school events, and a great deal of skipped mealtimes. The hidden economy of being poor Possibly, the most valuable observation to arise from this Reddit thread was not a suggested dish or food item, but a broader awareness — being broke calls for more than just being frugal. It requires imagination, community responsiveness, and frequently, a throbbing 'realignment' of pride. See also Singaporeans say S$2K monthly salary is considered poor One wise commenter condensed it seamlessly: 'Home-cooked food, well-planned and budgeted, far outstrips anything like cup noodles or low-nutrition food. This should be practised even on a normal budget, not just when you're poor.' More than just a meal Food has always been more than just nourishment. It's about individuality, well-being, and, for countless people, a device to gauge stability. What this thread disclosed was not just how Singaporeans feed themselves when times are hard, but how they care for one another. The penniless, the once-broke, and the still-financially-stressed all congregated around an online table to exchange recipes, recollections, and hard-fought wisdom. For sometimes, just to know that another person has made it through on raisins, noodles, oats, cucumber, and free grapes is enough to help another one get through one more day.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Porirua soup kitchen opens to support homeless in the city
E Kai soup kitchen setting up to serve a hot meal at its first session on Monday. Photo: RNZ / Nick James A soup kitchen has been set up in Porirua to help support those dealing with homelessness in the city. On a cold windy Monday evening, E Kai had its first event in the CBD, providing pumpkin and lentil soup with Rēwena bread to those in need. The soup kitchen is the only service of its kind in the city and is run by Ngati Toa Rangatira's iwi authority Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, Porirua City Council and WELLfed an adult education programme which specialises in cooking. Toe-Te Roopu Wahina social services is run by Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira. General manager Steven Johnson told RNZ the soup kitchen was focused on support for those that were homeless. "This initiative is set up to be able to provide a warm inviting space, where food is just the entry for those people to come in for us then to be able to put a wider wraparound service to support them where we can." He expected demand in the soup kitchen to increase as winter approached. Shane Tepania had been dealing with homelessness until WELLfed helped him out. He said they helped him get a job and a house. "Without them I'd probably be back on the streets." The soup kitchen would be very important to people, particularly in the colder months, he said. "If we can make a change, make a difference, wow, it's beautiful really just to see." E Kai will run every Monday from 4 Lyndsey Place in Porirua between 5pm and 7pm.
