{"id":313371,"date":"2026-03-21T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T05:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/?p=313371"},"modified":"2026-03-20T17:40:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:40:03","slug":"local-npo-feeds-community-but-struggles-with-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/local-npo-feeds-community-but-struggles-with-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Local NPO feeds community but struggles with funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A Tafelsig woman who started a soup kitchen three years ago is battling to secure funding to expand her community feeding programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sharna Bernhardt runs Sharna&#8217;s Helping Hands, a non-profit organisation that feeds seniors and children every Thursday from donations and her own pocket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bernhardt started the initiative with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t just receive all the time, we must give back,&#8221; said Bernhardt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-registered-status\">Registered status<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As the outreach grew, Bernhardt realised that she needed registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Then I decided to open the NPO, register my NPO to make it legal. And you know, so that people can see<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>that it&#8217;s a real thing, not a fake thing,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Bernhardt says funding remains a major challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;My customers at the pharmacy where I work will give me potatoes to make a meal. But it&#8217;s not enough to make three to four pots of soup. We can only do one to two pots,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bernhardt applied to the Department of Social Development for funding but was told they were too late for the yearly allocation, so she plans to apply again in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She has also approached various businesses for sponsorship but says she consistently receives negative responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-expanding-services\">Expanding services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the weekly soup kitchen, Sharna&#8217;s Helping Hands runs stationery drives and Christmas parties. Recently, Bernhardt gave out tops to local children who used them to start a soccer team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In February, she organised a fun day for elderly residents, taking them out to restaurants when sponsorship was available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I try to help people that don&#8217;t even get out of their homes, they&#8217;re always inside,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The soup kitchen too is not stationary but moves to various Mitchell&#8217;s Plain suburbs where there is a need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone interested in supporting Sharna&#8217;s Helping Hands can contact the organisation on 073 530 5472.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/tag\/mitchells-plain\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/tag\/mitchells-plain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">For more Mitchells Plain news, click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Tafelsig woman who started a soup kitchen three years ago is 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play around after receiving a hot dog from Sharna's Helping Hands.","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"Lauren O'Connor-Maylauren.oconnor-may@novusmedia.co.za","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Local NPO feeds community but struggles with 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