The Broccoli Project

A neighbour of mine created this project, and upon hearing about it I thought it was a fabulous idea. What follows is a few snippets describing the project (for the full article click here or to visit The Broccoli Project click here)

The City of Cape Town, in partnership with the Broccoli Project and Pick n Pay, launched the highly anticipated Food Voucher Programme – an incentive for donors to give responsibly and recipients to purchase responsibly. The vouchers are designed to substitute cash handouts to street people, and can be redeemed at any Pick n Pay for essential basic goods, with the exception of cigarettes, alcohol or other harmful substances. Members of the public can buy food vouchers (R50 for five vouchers worth R10 each) from participating Pick n Pays, and give these vouchers, instead of cash, to those seeking handouts. Co-founder and CEO of The Broccoli Project, MarcAnthony Zimmermann, says the project addresses the concerns of members of the public who want to give donations to uplift those less fortunate, but are worried that cash donations will be misused.

The City’s ‘Give Responsibly’ campaign discourages residents and visitors from giving handouts to street people, urging them to instead give vouchers or make donations to NGOs like the Broccoli Project, who have made it their mission to reintegrate street people into society.

Cape Town’s street people are often caught in a cycle of substance dependency, unemployment and poverty from which they cannot escape. The City’s Social Development Department works with a wide range of NGOs to provide street people with a new start in life. Through expert programmes that have a proven record of success, the City and various organisations assess, support and help to reintegrate street people into their communities of origin and reunite them with their families. Once someone has chosen to make a new start, they are given the support and skills needed to stay off the streets – permanently.

For the ‘Give Responsibly’ campaign to succeed, residents and visitors must refrain from giving street people handouts. This only helps to sustain and encourage their life on the streets. Instead, they should invest in vouchers from the City’s various partners.

I have yet to buy a pack of vouchers myself (I can't remember the last time I shopped at Pick n Pay), but if you have please let me know how it went!!