Project - The Lunchbox Fund

The Lunchbox Fund
thelunchboxfund.org

See our updated report on the project completion.

The Lunchbox Fund provides a meal of two protein-rich peanut butter sandwiches and a piece of fruit, or hearty soups with enriched bread for extremely poor and at-risk school children in South Africa, a country where more than 35% of the population lives in poverty and households are devastated by AIDS. These children already attending school can, if properly nourished in body and mind, have the potential to change their lives for the better.

This simple meal makes a substantial difference as it encourages each child's attendance at school and when a child stays in school, his or her risk of HIV infection, abuse, and/or unwanted pregnancy is greatly reduced.

The South African government is trying to address the problem but the lack of infrastructure in the most troubled provinces preclude many children from receiving any benefit. In 1994, President Nelson instituted the National School Nutrition Program (NSNP), which aims to feed upwards of 8 million learners daily however approximately 4 million children are left out of the system. The Lunchbox Fund plays an integral role in providing meals for the children overlooked or unreachable by the NSNP. These include some of the most dangerous and at-risk areas in the country, where there is a complete lack of basic infrastructure to even request the conditional feeding program grants.