McCain South Africa unveils new kitchen at Kwa-Thema Primary School

McCain South Africa recently donated R220 000 towards building a brand-new kitchen and storeroom at the Kwa-Thema Primary School in Springs. McCain South Africa wanted to help the school to continue doing the work that they are doing by helping to feed over 1185 children each day.

Kwa- Thema Primary School was established in 1953 and has grown leaps and bounds over the past few years teaching students from Grade R to Grade 7. Many of the children who attend the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds and sometimes don’t have enough to eat at home. Sometimes the only meal the children receive are those that are served through the school’s feeding scheme.

The McCain team from the Springs Plant visited the school earlier this year and identified the need for a kitchen and storeroom. “When visiting the school, we noticed that the staff-room was being used as a makeshift kitchen and the storeroom was not big enough to store the amount of food needed to feed all the students every day. We knew after seeing this that we wanted to do something to help the school,” says Barto Greeff, Springs Plant Manager at McCain South Africa.

McCain South Africa partnered with Harkon Construction, who donated all the labour for the build, and set out to build the new kitchen and storeroom. In late October the kitchen was officially opened and unveiled. The new kitchen meets all the needs of the feeding scheme, including space to prepare and cook the food, cooking equipment that is safe and durable as well as space to store all the food needed to feed the students.

“We were so incredibly proud to have been able to make a difference and help the school continue to feed their students. Feeding this many children every day comes with its own set of challenges and but now not having a space to prepare the food, serve it and store it is no longer one of them. We hope that the new kitchen and storeroom will continue to help the school do the great work that they are doing,” concludes Greeff.