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Affectionately known as Aunt Tollie, Margaret Vena has created a safe space in her front yard where children in St Francis Bay can find a meal to fill their growling bellies, in the hope that they focus while at school, and in turn achieve their goals in life.
With many children knocking at her door each day asking for something to eat, Vena who has always had a deep desire to feed the many hungry children in her community, initially began buying two loaves of bread a day to make sandwiches to distribute to those in need.
Finally in 2008, she established her own soup kitchen, Shekinah Soup Kitchen, where for the last 16 years she has been feeding between 80 and 120 children each day.
Vena said that from Monday to Friday her husband, Apostle Andrew Vena, who is the founder of local church, Shekinah Ministries, wakes each morning at 05:30 to boil water before she begins cooking maize meal porridge at 06:15.
She said that by 06:50 the porridge is ready, which gives each child enough time to eat a warm meal before heading to school.
Vena said that the children initially ate their porridge in her front yard, but since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic they are required to bring their own bowls and then eat the porridge at home before heading to school.
In addition to the daily porridge the children receive, she said that they also hand out lunch meals three times a week.
“I don’t want children to be walking around looking for food when they should be focused on their schoolwork and achieving great things in life,” said Vena.
In a community plagued by crime and drug abuse, she said that her greatest reward has been to see how many children who received meals from her soup kitchen move through various stages of their life from being in primary school, then high school, and later matriculating and finding a job.
As a reminder of her love for the children from her community and her dedication to ensuring that they have something to eat, Vena said she often looks at a picture of one of the beautiful young girls, who previously received meals at her soup kitchen, at her matric dance.
“It has been great to receive positive feedback from the children I have helped over the years, with many of them passing matric recently and many working,” said Vena.
Even though her focus is on feeding children in the area, she said that when there is food left over she hands it out to adults in need.
Thankfully, she has always received assistance running the soup kitchen from members of her church and from her five children, and 12 grandchildren.
In addition, Vena said that she receives donations of maize meal, sugar, milk, and gas, each month from Woodlands Dairy with the occasional donation of yoghurt and cheese.
Furthermore, she said that she also receives a voucher and R1 000’s worth of fruit and vegetables from the Kouga Windfarm each month.
“People have always been willing to help, especially the many generous residents in St Francis Bay. As a result of the multiple donations we have received, we have never had to close our soup kitchen,” said Vena.
To create a special experience for the children from her community during the Christmas holiday period, she said that they gave each child a meal, party packet, and food parcel, on December 24, 2023.
Since they had a large quantity of leftovers the following day on December 25, Vena said that they were able to distribute food to at least 13 patients at the local hospital.
“We distributed food to the patients who sadly did not have any visitors on Christmas Day. They were so grateful for the meal and the staff thanked us for putting a smile on their patients’ faces,” said Vena.
She said that the following day, on December 26, they still had a lot of food left over and continued to distribute food to people that visited her home asking for a meal.
