• 25¢ or R2,50 can feed a child for a day *
• $10 or R100 can feed a child for a month *
• $120 or R1 200 can feed a child for a school year **
• $2,500 or R25 000 will provide tools and equipment required to implement a fully functioning kitchen or a vegetable garden into a school
• $7,500 or R75 000 will provide tools and equipment required to implement full kitchens into 3 schools
• $10,000 or R100 000 can sponsor a school for an academic year.
• *Depending on area, staff and transport, meals may range from 25¢/R2.50 to 60¢R6.00 per child per day.
• **Depending on official number of school days, averaging 200 days per annum.

Feed a Child. Nourish a Mind. Donate here.

What We Do

Our Mission

Fostering education via nutrition, The Lunchbox Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a daily meal for orphaned and vulnerable school children in township and rural areas of South Africa, a country where 65% of all children live in poverty. Receiving food encourages these children to stay in school and obtain their education. When a child stays in school, his or her risk of HIV infection, abuse and unwanted pregnancies is greatly reduced.

It’s quite simple. Regular lunch programs increase enrollment at schools and reduce truancy rates. Students participating in a school feeding program attend school more frequently than those who do not. Academic performance also improves with test scores increasing in students who have access to a daily meal through a school feeding program.

Today, 19.6% of all children in South Africa are orphans, with approximately 1.9 Million of those children orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS. Unemployment is a severe problem where we work, resulting in many of the students at our partner schools not having access to adequate nutrition or basic health care.

The simple act of providing each child with protein-rich peanut butter sandwiches and a piece of fruit, or hearty soups, stews with vegetables or enriched porridge, makes a substantial difference as it nurtures and encourages each child’s attendance and performance at school. Not only is it often their only guaranteed meal of a day, but children are more likely to attend and stay in school to obtain this basic sustenance.

Feed a Child, Nourish a Mind.

Our Work

The Lunchbox Fund has been feeding impoverished schoolchildren since 2005. Bringing communities together with the help of small local businesses and entrepreneurs in the townships, we provide vulnerable students with healthy meals that nourish their body and minds.

Once a partner school is identified and vetted, The Lunchbox Fund works with a school-based support team and school principals to determine which students are most in need of nutritional support.

For over 12 million students in South Africa, the lack of food can diminish concentration, erode willpower and strip away the potential greatness of a child. Compound that with prevalence of HIV/AIDS or the trauma of losing parents and loved ones, without food, a child’s attendance and performance at school is severely jeopardized.

Despite significant obstacles, students struggle to complete their education and become thriving members of society. The Lunchbox Fund works with wide range of schools and early childhood development centers, providing over 1,000,000 meals annually. We currently serve the following provinces: Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, North West Province and Limpopo. While expanding our programs to new schools is a major development goal, maintaining consistent yearly feeding programs in every school we sponsor is of the utmost importance.