Breaking Bread now has a fantastic new website, all thanks to our friends at Azna Technology. And what better way to introduce our new Breaking Bread blog than a fundraising campaign? One of our team is currently raising money via the Backabuddy Champion platform, and this blog will be delving into what this fundraising campaign is all about. And more importantly – why a man who claims to be scared of heights in hiking up a mountain trail.

Just a quick introduction to the Breaking Bread team. We are three people – Martyn Armstrong, CJ Armstrong, and Sheradia Brown:  

CJ is a director of her own company African Sunrise Volunteering, where they place interns and volunteers at various organisations in the Western Cape. She has previous experience as a fundraiser for several NPOs and runs Breaking Bread's social media pages. She's also our dedicated photographer.

Sheradia was also working for a local NPO in Cape Town and has been an active member of the Salt River community for many years, which includes the Neighbourhood Watch and various other civic organisations. She cooks and serves all the food for our Feeding Programme from her own home and has a close relationship with everyone we work with.

Martyn has volunteered with a local NPO since moving to Cape Town in 2013. Martyn and CJ were part of a collective of people who crowdfunded and built a kindergarten in the Philippi Township.

Now that we're better acquainted let's move on to discuss Martyn's fear of exercise and heights.

Raising His Game by Trekking Up a Mountain –

Now that you have a bit more information about Breaking Bread, it's time to see what this latest Breaking Bread fundraising campaign is all about. Our co-director Martyn has done an annual fundraising campaign for the last two years, this being his third attempt.

You can see his previous two campaigns here.

For this year's fundraising campaign, he has decided to raise his game. While wracking his brain with new ideas, he saw a photo online of our friend Erika and his company Weigh Up Project. And just like that, it became apparent what his task would be. To hike up one of Cape Town's trails.

You can visit the Backabuddy fundraising page here to donate.

For many people in Cape Town, hiking is some they enjoy on a regular basis. The city is renowned for its beautiful scenic views, especially those seen from up high. It's safe to say that Martyn is not one of these people. And that's why he's chosen this task.

An interesting adage to this effort is that he's a self-confessed wimp, he has vertigo, and …hiking just isn't something he does. Not to mention his irrational fear of any rustling from potential creatures in the foliage or soil as he makes his way up the trail.

While there may be a few obstacles to undertaking this challenge, it's one he's willing to do to raise some much-needed funds for Breaking Bread. The plan is to arrange the hike with Weigh Up Project for approx. the 10th of August. Until then, he'll be upping his daily steps and walking exercises.

Here's a video he shot with more information about the hike and the campaign.

What Your Donations Will Go Towards –

At the time of writing this blog, Breaking Bread foes not have any government, municipal or private funding. We primarily rely on once-off donations, fundraising efforts from interns and volunteers who we work with, and Backabuddy campaigns like Martyn's.

However, we are in the process of seeking sustainable private funding; it just takes time to put together a suitable proposal to take to potential donors. In the meantime, we need an interim fundraising effort to tide us over. Any donations that we raise via this campaign will keep us operating.

Our basic setup is a Feeding Programme for the homeless people in Salt River and Observatory. Additionally, we run an Afterschool Programme for the local children in Salt River to provide activities and entertainment for them during school holidays.

We feed people every weekday, every morning and most afternoons, which includes our Friday mobile soup kitchen ‘Soup Sessions' in Observatory. In addition to this, we work with overseas interns and volunteers who study social work and similar courses. Sheradia mentors the interns and volunteers during their stay, and they assist with our Programmes and other community initiatives.

Martyn's target of R 10, 000 will cover our running costs for at least two months. While he contemplates his hiking endeavour, we are working in the background to prepare our NPO to bid for sustainable funding.

Breaking Bread – Help Us Send Our Unlikely Hiking Hero to New Heights –

Please help us send Martyn up a mountain by donating and sharing his campaign. Your donations will help us continue our work in our local community, where a lot of people rely on us for necessary provisions. Any form of assistance is always appreciated, even if you share this blog or our campaign posts. It all adds up to moving us closer to having enough funds to continue operating for the next two months.

If by some stroke of altruistic good luck, we manage to reach or surpass the R 10, 000 target, we'll be in an excellent position. Our ambitions as an organisation will one day delve far deeper into the social issues that create and exasperate homelessness, but for now, we're doing whatever we can to provide a nutritious meal, twice a day.

You can donate to Martyn's campaign by clicking here. If you have any issues with this, please feel free to contact us, and we'll do what we can to guide you through the process.

If you have your own fundraising campaign ideas and you want to raise money on our behalf, please contact us, and we will send you a guide on how to become a Backabuddy Champion for Breaking Bread.

Thank you all again for your ongoing support – none of this would be possible without it.

Love – from the Breaking Bread team.