Top Chef Margot Janse did exactly that; help the local children nearest her. Today she still does and the numbers are increasing. Her Charity Isabelo- Feeding Hungry Minds started in 2009, whilst she was at Le Quartier Francais, a Boutique Hotel in Franschhoek. (Food and Wine Heartland outside of Cape Town)
She quite simply couldn’t turn a blind eye when children go to school hungry.
A nutritious muffin was developed and delivered to a local crèche. The popularity of the concept quickly grew. They were able to gain international recognition and financial support due to Margot’s involvement, a Dutch world famous Award-Wining Chef.
Today they are serving nutritious lunches containing all food groups to 200 children across three playschools. In addition to this, more than a 1000 children are fed every school day by the Kusasa Breakfast Club, which Isabelo adopted and runs. This essentially ensures each child has a healthy start to their day. Margot and Isabello have departed from Le Quartier Francais in April this year.
Isabelo is now run from her home, her garage being the distribution centre for all the food. A catering company in Cape Town is currently making the nutritious lunches, as she doesn’t have enough space at home. Milk, fruit and a lot of eggs are delivered too. She collects the meals and has help from the Kusasa Project for the daily food deliveries.
Her aim is to establish a central kitchen, based in the Winelands, where all the meals will be cooked. After the food preparation, she would like the kitchen to be used as an educational facility for skills, hygiene and nutritional workshops. There is no doubt that this will be a success. Margot is among the top 20 finalists for The Basque Culinary World Prize 2016, “an award for chefs around the world whose projects have improved society through gastronomy.” Her knowledge is sought after with invitations to do informative talks in Spain and Ireland.
Isabelo‘s name is apt- “enjoying association with people and strive to lift the spirits of others through kindness, encouragement and inspiration.” This requires awareness; this awareness is needed for growth. As a society, we have to encourage this awareness and learn to give and to do so responsibly.
Contact Isabelo at [email protected] Feed Hungry Minds.
Bernadette Erasmus writes a blog Kaleidoscope
Top Chef Margot Janse by Bernadette Erasmus
“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.” – Mother Teresa