In the space of a few short weeks, Ladles of Love transformed itself from an efficient organisation doing its bit to feed the destitute in the Cape Town Central City to a phenomenal powerhouse, feeding thousands of Cape Town’s homeless and poor communities every single day. At the heart of this impressive feat is Danny Diliberto. We spent time with him and his team, witnessing Ladles of Love in action.
It’s a sunny morning in the Mother City. Cape Town in the first week of May is often balmy and inviting, even during a nationwide lockdown where movement is curtailed, and anxiety is in the air.
I’m standing outside the beautiful buildings that make up Cape Town International Convention Centre 2, a once-thriving world-class conference venue which in the 2018/19 economic year alone contributed R6.5bn to the country’s national GDP. I’m not attending a conference as the venue has been silenced by Covid-19. I’m here to meet Danny Diliberto, the man behind Ladles of Love, an organisation that has become a lifeline for thousands of hungry people in Cape Town.
It’s just a few minutes after 09h00 and people covered in masks and with Ladles of Love tags are already working full steam ahead. There’s a “drive-through” like set-up and the people in masks are receiving huge amounts of goods, including fresh vegetables, sandwiches and dry goods and putting them inside the venue. Just as they think they’re done unloading, another vehicle comes through.
The venue has two entrances. I turn away from the entrance at which goods are being received and catch a glimpse of hive of activity inside the expansive venue.
After exchanging pleasantries with a masked security guard, a woman with a Ladles of Love tag comes towards me. “Hello, have you been helped?” she asks. I tell her I have an appointment with Danny and she goes off to find him. Moments later, another person comes out and asks if I need assistance. This is Ladles of Love personified. Everyone wants to help.
Soon thereafter, Margolite Williams — aka Mama M — chaperones me towards the 1 500 square-metre hall. At the door, I sanitise my hands, get my Ladles of Love tag and step inside what has become the Ladles of Love temporary HQ. I can see Danny in the distance, in a meeting.
A Meticulous Operation
Inside the huge hall, everything runs like clockwork. Things are meticulously labelled. There's a timetable next to the door with names and contact details of the army of volunteers who have stepped up to the plate to help those less fortunate than themselves. There's also a nerve centre inside the hall, where the admin is handled and a team of accountants and auditors that track every single thing that comes in and goes out. In the middle, the floor is divided into squares with names of the over 75 non-profit organisations that Ladles of Love supports throughout greater Cape Town. Some squares are filled with more food than others: it all depends on what the organisation needs. Some have parcels with uncooked food (collected twice a week), while others have sandwiches and cooked meals (collected every day). Some have both. Then, on the far side of the hall are stacks of uncooked food waiting to be prepared, measured and sorted for the various organisations.
It's nothing short of extraordinary: Ladles of Love has gone from cooking 1 000 meals a week to cooking over 35 000 — which translates into over 10 tonnes of cooked food. A total of 110 tonnes of food has been distributed to the community, of which more than 75 tonnes have come out of this hall. Through its remarkable sandwich drive, Ladles of Love has collected over 500 000 sandwiches and 100 000 boiled eggs.
Margolite takes me on a quick tour: we go up to the impressive CTICC kitchens a few floors up to see where the food is prepared, meet Arno Janse van Rensburg and Liezl Odendaal, the husband-and-wife team from Janse & Co. who head up the Ladles of Love kitchen, some of the volunteers and finally come back downstairs to chat to the man who drives this lean, mean machine.
CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT
Today the former restaurateur, who gave up a thriving business in the CBD to start a soup kitchen, is wearing signature black jeans and black sneakers, and a black T-shirt with the words “hope, faith, love” which, in a way, sums up what he stands for. “I am in disbelief. It’s unbelievable how we have expanded,” Danny says. He speaks softly, and his voice is almost drowned out by the din inside the hall. “This is humanity in action. I always say that Covid-19 is a virus to our body but medicine to humanity.”
Since Lockdown, Danny’s life has revolved around one thing only: getting food to hungry people. He is visibly tired but shrugs off the fatigue, saying he’s surrounded by miracles and “miracles inspire you". Helping those in need to access the basic human right to food keeps him going.
“When I get home at night, I imagine what it would be like to come home to an empty kitchen. To have no food and no idea where the next meal is coming from. It's terrifying. That's what keeps me going. Nobody deserves to be hungry. So, when I’m tired and I’ve only slept for four hours, that’s what pulls me out of bed in the morning and Covid-19 has only made me more determined to feed as many people as I possibly can,” says Danny.
When I ask how he plans for each day, he laughs. "It's impossible to make plans, even planning for tomorrow doesn't work because by the time you get there, everything is different.” It's all about rolling with the punches, he says, and adapting in order to thrive. "Covid-19 has taught me the power of the present moment, and the importance of gratitude. The amazing thing is that everything we need is coming to us as we need it. People who've never met before are working together. I see kindness like you can’t imagine. Everyone is here for one purpose only and that’s to help other Capetonians in need. It’s beautiful.”
CCID writer Simangele Mzizi gives a helping hand at the Ladles of Love temporary HQ at the CTICC 2.
THE SECRET BEHIND LADLES OF LOVE'S SUCCESS
It's these people, these strangers from all walks of life who're drawn by the common purpose to help the helpless that is at the heart of this extraordinary organisation's success. Without this volunteer army, there would be no Ladles of Love. As one volunteer, Vusi Skhosana, puts it: “I believe in being a part of a community and helping where I can,.”
“Giving without expecting anything in return and knowing that by showing kindness, those people will, in turn, share kindness with others” is what inspires another volunteer, Shaun Bristow.
Arno, the head chef at Ladles of Love, says: “We knew that the team at Janse & Co have a certain set of skills that could be really helpful to those in need. People need to stand together in order to survive things like this.”
Co-managing directors of events company Rainbow Experiential Marketing Alison McCutcheon and Debbie Mcguire share the same sentiments as Arno. Well-versed in managing big events, they wanted to offer their skills especially as their industry is closed right now due to Covid-19 restrictions. The pair regularly assist Danny with his Mandela Day event for the homeless and decided to come on board to share their expertise and make a difference.
“Ladles’ sandwich drive had hit epic proportions and they needed help. I jumped in, assessed the situation and realised they needed structure, a clear campaign and a new roof over their heads. In a week, I pulled all the elements together with the help of amazing people who could offer us their support and advice, kind sponsorship and money,” says Alison.
Since coming on board, Alison and Debbie have been instrumental in getting the CTICC to offer temporary use of the venue and manage the logistics to ensure the operation runs smoothly.
As campaign manager, Alison strategises the “giving and receiving” network across the Cape Peninsula and works with the City of Cape Town and provincial stakeholders to align the Ladles of Love feeding scheme with their Covid-19 operations. “We appear to be one of the biggest role players,” she says.
As general and events manager, Debbie, on the other hand, is responsible for the “nerve centre” set-up, management, administration and functionality. Debbie’s role supports both the Ladles of Love distribution centre operation, campaign network and marketing. At present, Ladles of Love has about 75 people on-site daily at the CTICC and a further 150 across the Peninsula.
Filled with inspiration, I decide to roll up my sleeves and spend time here as a volunteer. My task is measuring raw ingredients such as lentils and peas into 5 kg bags. The bags are then sealed and placed on a table. This way, Ladles of Love is able to track the amount of food going out to non-profits. The simple act of measuring the food once again reminds me of the attention to detail at Ladles of Love in giving dignity to people.
Pat Eddy, manager of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District's (CCID) Social Development — which engages daily with the CBD's homeless community that Ladles of Love helps at The Haven Night Shelter, the City’s Safe Space under the Culemborg bridge, The Hope Exchange, Straatwerk and Khulisa Streetscapes — has high praise for Ladles of Love.
“Danny and his volunteers are doing phenomenal work during this lockdown period where extreme poverty and hunger within communities is often more of a concern than the dreaded Covid-19 disease itself,” she says. Pat adds: “Many more vulnerable groups are now being reached far wider than the CBD.”
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
Danny started Ladles of Love nearly seven years ago, while he still owned Doppio Zero restaurant in the CBD, after attending a course through the Art of Living Foundation (AOL) where he had to offer hot tea to people living on the street. He decided to make soup instead. While on his mission, he spotted a homeless man shouting abuse. Danny offered him the soup, and instantly noticed that that simple gesture had the power to restore the man's dignity. The shouting stopped. He gratefully accepted the soup before continuing on his way.
Inspired and with a plan, he launched Ladles of Love soup kitchen in July 2014 with a small team of volunteers, serving 70 hot meals. Soon he was serving nearly three times as much and he decided to make Ladles of Love his life's calling.
Today, in the midst of a pandemic that has already ravaged the city, Cape Town can be eternally grateful. Danny likens the Ladles journey since Lockdown to his sedate soup kitchen suddenly starting to buck like a wild horse. “I cannot put it into words, this experience since Lockdown started on 26 March. Ladles became this wild horse ready to gallop off towards the horizon with me sitting in the saddle, holding the reins tightly. She untamed but now I feel like she's saying, 'Danny, I’m with you. We’re in this for one purpose and that’s to feed as many people that need our help’”.
LADLES OF LOVE UPDATES
Here are some of the highlights showing the progression of Ladles of Love:
4 April update (first week of Lockdown)
- Supporting four non-profits.
- Produced over 12 000 meals a week.
- Collected over 2 000 sandwiches.
- Collected over R300 000 in donations.
18 April update
- Supporting 12 non-profits.
- Produced over 20 000 meals a week (about 8 tons)
- Collected 12 000 sandwiches
25 April update
- Supporting over 12 non-profits.
- Produced about 10 tons of food a week.
- Collected over 25 000 sandwiches.
- Raised over R2 million in donations.
2 May update
- Supporting 25 non-profits.
- Produced 12 tons of cooked food.
- Collected 112 000 sandwiches.
- Moved from the Roeland Street kitchen to the CTICC.
10 May update
- Supporting close to 60 non-profits.
- Produced 55 000 meals a week (19 tons of cooked food).
- Distributed over 86 000 sandwiches and collected 10 500 boiled eggs.
19 May update (to date)
Ladles of Love has:
- Gone from helping four non-profits to helping over 75 non-profits and these non-profits, in turn, help about 35 other organisations.
- Gone from cooking 1 000 cooked meals a week to cooking over 35 000 meals a week which translates to over 10 tons of cooked food. A total of 110 tons of food has been distributed into the community, of which more than 75 tons have come out of the CTICC hall.
- Through its sandwich drive collected over 500 000 sandwiches and 100 000 boiled eggs.
IMAGES: Ladles of Love, CCID