Zero2Five reaches out to little ones over Christmas

When the school gates close for the year, many of KwaZulu-Natal’s youngest children face the harsh reality of hunger for the next six weeks. They rely on meals provided between lessons and will go hungry during what should be fun-filled summer holidays.

Jodi Pons‘s team at the Zero2Five Trust, a leader in ECD interventions in the province and host of a flagship Holiday Club Programme that has put the joy back into the festive season for thousands of local children since 2018, is again preparing to fill the nutritional gap and open their facilities for fun and educational activities during the six-week summer break.

Although they are focussing on happiness during the festive season, the stark realities are always in the background, the newly appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Zero2Five Trust admits.

According to the South African Early Childhood Review 2024, nearly five million children under six live in households that cannot meet their basic needs with almost half (49%) of KZN children experiencing some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country. This results in ongoing malnutrition, stunting and developmental delays.

“Food security is declining all the time. It is scary how basic food items have become ridiculously expensive. Although an extra 5kg bag of porridge doesn't seem like much, it translates into 100 meals for a young child over the six-week school holiday period. I would imagine it all gets split amongst siblings and maybe even the elderly, but I welcome knowing that we are helping impoverished households,” she says.

Another major concern is safety. This is evident in the many stories of neglected children that emerged during the 2024 holiday season from households where caretakers were working and young children were left in the “supervision” of their older siblings. The holiday season might be great joy for many children, but it also puts the vulnerable ones at an even greater risk.

“We open our four venues for children who are normally not looked after. This is a big problem for parents who still go to work in December. Schools close as early as November 20 and they have to make sure that their children are safe. It’s one thing having older siblings, but they have friends stopping by and often this is not a safe environment for young children,” she explains.

At the holiday clubs, Zero2Five provides breakfast, a snack and lunch and then hosts a school day filled with games, entertainment and supervised play.

During 2024, the Zero2Five Holiday Programme reached over 530 children and distributed nutritional support to about 4 000 families. Special ‘Lovebox’ gifts, packed by learners from Thomas More College provided gifts for 450 children. In addition, volunteer caretakers – who also assist Zero2Five with preschool activities during the school year – receive a stipend for their help.

An improved Holiday Club Programme over 2025/26 December-January will, for first time, includes a storytelling course for caretakers and will provide 500 buckets of fresh produce for poor families. Each bucket will include a large cabbage and 1 kg packs of onions, potatoes, carrots, apples, and pears which will be delivered to centres in uThukela, uMgungundlovu and uMlazi.

Pons thanked all partners that support the programme including the Victor Daitz Foundation and funders from as far afield as Germany.