Team members of the Olympiakos Football Club which is based in the rural town of Noupoort started a community soup kitchen during the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative feeds 140 community members and focuses on community members who are infected with coronavirus, TB sufferers, child-headed households, and clinic patients with severe and chronic conditions are provided with daily meals for a two-week period during October.
The club is well known in the district and recognised for its talented players, but it was the youngsters’ community outreach initiative that has received the attention of Safa.“While the teams could not play during Covid, the club found a way of supporting the community, which we highly commend.Emlyn and his team are not only dedicated to the sport, but they are also dedicated to improving the community and making a difference,” said David Bantu, Safa president in the Pixley Ka Seme District Municipality.
Emlyn Luka, Founder of Olympiakos Football Club, said the food programme enabled them to play their part as a local club.” More importantly, as the youth of Noupoort, this programme gave us an opportunity to make a lasting contribution in the fight against Covid-19 by providing food to the most vulnerable – even if it is just for 14 days,” said Luka.
The project is being funded by Noupoort Wind Farm’s socio-economic development programme and is being implemented in collaboration with two local clinics in the area. The beneficiaries of the feeding projects were assigned by Nonqo Simon Zono Clinic in Kwazamuxolo and Eurekaville Clinic, to ensure the most vulnerable receive the help during this difficult time. Most of the beneficiaries collect their meals at the clinics each day, but Covid patients who are quarantining, or those too ill to leave their homes, are having their meals delivered to their homes.
