Hello Space Cowboys and friends
People around South Africa are in very difficult situations under the Covid-19 lockdown. Some are starving, and with one in five business saying they have laid people off and no definitive end in sight, the situation is going to get worse.
As a collective, we want to help. Most of us are in a fortunate enough position to assist: we are earning an income, have homes and food, we have skills and extra time and networks.
Let’s put our resources together to support those in need.
What is needed?
We need to get food to people, whether freshly-prepared food or non-perishable goods for families to prepare. We need your help to share the load donating your time, ingredients cooking, containers, transport, or money – anything that will share the load.
What are Space Cowboys doing?
We are trying to organise efficiently to distribute food on a daily basis to people in need around Cape Town (and now an initiative in Joburg).
We want to make it easy for you to contribute in the way that is most appropriate given money, time and logistical constraints. This is the information to help you do that.
What has been done already?
We have divided up work efforts into regions around Cape Town and one in Johannesburg. In the Southern suburbs we’re helping Lockdown Ladles distribute food to the Cape Flats. In Hout Bay, we’re distributing food parcels through Courage.africa. In the CBD and Atlantic Seaboard, we’re giving food to Ladles Of Love and starting up food parcels for distribution. In Joburg, we have an initiative feeding people in the inner city. Here is a full list of the organizations we’ve identified.
♥ See updates on progress here.
How can you help?
You can contribute your time, skill, or resources in the following ways:
- Prepare food and ingredients – if you are able to prepare peanut butter sandwiches or cook soup, then you can assist. Click here for more info.
- Prepare non-perishable food parcels – parcels of non-perishable foods costing R200-R250 can feed a family of four for a week. Click here for more info.
- Provide transport – if you have a permit to transport items, then we need assistance with pickup and delivery. Please get in contact to see how can help.
- Donate – we’ve setup an account to collect money and distribute to initiatives that go directly to helping people on the ground. Click here to find out how to donate.
Spread the word
We will be using the Friday Lockdown streaming sessions every Friday here to raise awareness and hopefully drive fund raising – please join us every Friday at 5pm at www.spacecowboys.co.za/tv
Please share far and wide – there are many people that want to help but are not sure how they can help out, we will make sure that these five feeding schemes get 100 % of the support you donate to.
Even with these exceptional circumstances that we find ourselves in, we have lots to be grateful for – one of these is the strong community of exceptional humans that we have built over the past 8 years, not only within our collective but the bonds we have nourished over time within the burning community and the outside world.
Need help?
We have a responsibility to check in on ourselves and make sure we’re all supported. If you, or others close to you need help, please reach out to outreach@spacecowboys.co.za and we will do our best to help you.
FAQ
More questions are answered here. Please get in touch if you have questions.