Our Story...
WARMTH (WAR against Malnutrition, Tuberculosis and Hunger) was founded in 1968 as a non-profit project under the umbrella of Catholic Welfare and Development. WARMTH provides low-cost food to the poorest communities around Cape Town. There are now 42 community-based kitchens around Cape Town and a further 10 kitchens along the West Coast, these in partnership with the Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation. It is often said that children are the worst victims of poverty, which is why 15 WARMTH kitchens are based in primary schools, making low-cost nutritious meals available to the most vulnerable.
From these 52 kitchens approximately 15000 low-cost meals a day are sold to those in need.
You may wonder how such qualities can be achieved - By the enthusiasm of our kitchen operators!
Each kitchen is run as a small business by a woman who has shown the abilities required, carefully chosen by the community themselves. Each operator can generate for themselves an income from meals sold.
We would emphasise that WARMTH try to provide a "hand up" and not a "hand out" but in cases of severe need where funds are not available to buy this low cost meal, arrangements are made with other agencies to solve the problem.
In addition to this WARMTH runs over 240 health and nutrition education workshops each year, spreading knowledge about primary health care issues. Unemployed women, usually single mothers, attend these workshops with their children. Issues such as breastfeeding, immunization, oral rehydration, TB and HIV/Aids are addressed. From here the women take knowledge and skills back into their communitites, equipped to improve the health of the families and neighbours. WARMTH also has community workers who visit the sick and elderly in disadvantaged areas.
