New truck for Mustadafin Foundation

Mustadafin Foundation's life-saving work of feeding nearly 28 000 people daily, has been given a boost, thanks to a generous donation of a truck from the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT).

- HAZEL ALLIES-HUSSELMAN

The truck, valued at R860 000, was handed over at a ceremony on Wednesday April 23, at Mustadafin's office in Bridgetown.

Ghairunisa Johnstone-Cassiem, director of Mustadafin, said their work was hampered when one of their vehicles was hijacked last year.

"It impacted us a lot. We deliver food to 27 910 people daily. Our driver was hijacked on his way back from doing deliveries. He was so traumatised by this. Besides our food distribution, we also do disaster relief, and we have to be ready at any time. We lost a bakkie in the hijacking, but now we have been blessed with a truck."

She expressed her organisation's gratitude, saying: "I was introduced to SAMCT and I reached out to them for assistance. We are so grateful to the trust for opening the door for us. We would never have had the money to buy a truck as an organisation. Their generous donation also makes our task lighter, because now we only have to do one trip, instead of four when doing deliveries. We've already used the truck when we assisted with disaster relief. I am so grateful and would like to say shukran to SAMCT and hope that we can continue our collaboration," Ms Johnstone-Cassiem said.

Rasheeda Motala, SAMCT's social responsibility officer, said the trust did not hesitate to assist Mustadafin.