Johannesburg stands up for matrics this Mandela Day with Buckets of Nutrition

This Mandela Day, SA Harvest is bringing its high-impact Buckets of Nutrition for Matriculants campaign to Melrose Arch in a powerful public activation that puts food justice, dignity, and youth empowerment front and centre.

On 18 July, volunteers, corporate partners, and community members will gather at Melrose Arch to pack curated care buckets for Grade 12 learners in underserved communities across Gauteng and beyond. Each bucket contains shelf-stable nutritious food, hygiene items, and stationery to help learners prepare for their final school year with resilience and dignity.

The Melrose Arch activation is backed by committed partners including AMDEC, NUMUTI, and Kwikot, with support from SA Harvest’s logistics network and a national distribution partnership with the Road Freight Association (RFA).

The campaign is underpinned by alarming findings from the 2024 SERI Food (In)Security Report: over 63% of households in South Africa face food insecurity, with 23.1% living in severe hunger. Children and youth bear the brunt—stunting, underperformance, and long-term health and learning deficits. And while young people go hungry, 10 million tonnes of food go to waste annually.

“Food justice is education justice,” says Ozzy Nel, COO of SA Harvest. “When young people don’t have access to nutritious meals, it’s not just their health that suffers – it’s their futures. These buckets are an act of solidarity and a rejection of a broken system that allows food to go to waste while learners go hungry.”

Last year’s Mandela Month effort saw 2,879 buckets packed by 350+ volunteers across three cities. Each bucket contained food items offering protein, carbohydrates, and nutrients, with 19 beneficiary organisations supporting the final distribution.

This year, Johannesburg’s participation can make a meaningful difference by helping to reach more matrics and deepen the campaign’s systemic impact.

To get involved:

• Sponsor any amount toward a bucket (they cost R500 each)
• Join the public packing event at Melrose Arch on 18 July 2025, from 11h00 to 16h00
• Partner for a corporate activation or logistics support
• Donate online via QR code or visit www.saharvest.org

This Mandela Day, help turn waste into wisdom and scarcity into support – one bucket at a time.

This year’s campaign invites all South Africans to play a part. You can sponsor a bucket for R500, join a packing event at Melrose Arch, or partner with SA Harvest for in-house activations or logistics support. Donations can be made at https://saharvest.org/buckets/, using the reference “Buckets”.