In 2012, as the primary funders of a major permaculture garden at a nursery school, we were well aware of the food shortages in the community we serve. So for years now, we have supported school nutrition programs, and the most inspired funding came at our 10-year Birthday Bash in November 2021. At the end of our gala, we asked for 12 guests to raise their hands to provide breakfast for 450 children at St. Ignatius Primary School: one donation for each month of the year. Why? All the children come from poor backgrounds, and most of them eat only one meal per day: school lunch. They go to sleep hungry, arrive at school hungry, and suffer from the physical and emotional pain that chronic hunger creates.

Within seconds of our Birthday Bash request, 25 hands went up, and the quantity of food we could supply more than doubled in record-time. That’s what our donors do.

So, throughout 2022, we regularly fed 450 children breakfast. As the principal said, “Attendance is up, children are happy, parents are grateful.” So we were, but we believe in sustainability over chronic handouts, so we launched a collaboration with the school to help Yandiswa, a local resident and parent, start her own “piggery.” Through our association with DonorSee, a unique fundraising platform, we have funded the business’s registration, the construction of the pig stalls, Yandiswa’s training, the purchase of four piglets, and all the food and vaccinations. The pigs, no longer piglets, have already given birth to their own children, so in 2023, four have become 11.

The piggery is independent from Universal Promise as of July 2024. From that point on, 50% of the profits from the sale of the meat will return to the school for them to purchase breakfast, and the farmer will keep the balance of the profits for her hard work. It’s a win-win. Children are fed, a local business is born, and another female entrepreneur rises UP.