Eston farmers join hands to assist local communities
The adage ‘many hands make light work’ proved true for many in the Eston community when the Beaumont Eston Farmers Association (BEFA) and Magma Security & Investigations joined forces to donate 1000 food hampers to those affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns in the area.
Seeing the negative effects COVID-19 had on the economy, and on people’s lives, members of BEFA initiated the BEFA Fund, which saw farmers raise money for 500 hampers consisting of sugar, rice, samp, beans, tin fish, tea bags, toilet roll, oil and soup.
This was then matched by Magma Security & Investigations, who work closely with farmers in the community, enabling 1000 people to receive hampers.
The Eston district was divided into three zones and from those zones, certain informal settlements were selected as beneficiaries. The hampers were then distributed by Magma.
“It was professionally run by the Magma team with vehicles loaded and ready to depart by 7am on the day of distribution,” said Wynne Smith, Chairperson of BEFA.
In addition to delivery, Magma also sourced the food items for the hampers at cost price and less, at no cost to the BEFA Relief Fund. Each hamper comprised enough groceries to feed a family of four for a month.
“Owner of Magma, Shaheen Suleiman has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to donation drives, so we left it up to Magma to facilitate the event. It was a wonderful initiative and the donations are greatly appreciated,” said Smith.
Sandy, on behalf of Kwanalu, commended the farmers on their generosity saying, “Kwanalu is extremely proud of the work that BEFA has done to assist this community during a very difficult time. The pandemic has left so many people destitute and we are proud of the farmers and other parties for stepping up.”