With Love Foundation is a non profit organisation with the mission to improve the quality of life and
uplift marginalized communities through means of
sustainable development. We bridge the gap to the
community and provide opportunities through
programmes that change their lives for the better. We
improve poor quality of life through gender sensitive programmes with community centred approaches. We
support for helpful change by sharing relations with
others for the improvement of civic society. With Love Foundation objectives are to bridge the gap for the less-
privileged and seeks to create a better society through
initiatives that benefit the community. With Love
Foundation represents both its own causes and the
causes of charities related in our chosen fields of
operation. With Love believes that through the active participation of the average man out there we as
Zimbabweans can help create a brighter future for the
present generation and the generation ahead.
I interviewed Lynnette Mahlaba who spoke about the up coming With Love Foundation event world largest pillow fight taking place this month and how the Foundation was born.
QUESTION: Tell us when did With Love Foundation start?
ANSWER : With Love Foundation was registered last year and was brought about by 3 young women who wanted to make a difference in communities. We were tired of feeling powerless at every traffic light where young children approach asking for food. We wanted a systematic way of providing a solution that was cheap as we didnt have much money, but a solution that was effective and ensured children were fed. We were also sick and tired of seeing dirty streets and seeing that children were abused because they didnt have clothing. This brought about our first 3 drives namely, With Love Soup Kitchen weekly food assistance programme serving a wholesome soup and distributing food packs, Zim Clean monthly street clean ups and One Million Pieces which is a clothing collection and distribution. We started with nothing of our own, borrowed pots and borrowed gas stoves and within a month we managed to host a fundraiser that allowed us to purchase our own industrial gas stove.
QUESTION : What have you achieved so far and the response of the community?
ANSWER : We have been fortunate over the last year to have been able to meet up with various people who have asssited us in some way and impacted what we are trying to achieve which is bring about methods of poverty alleviation. We started skills programs with some of the children who attend the soup kitchen thanks to Stanley a local wood carver who has dedicated his time and tools to teach our children how to be self reliant by being able to make wooden spoons, artifacts like giraffes, zebras etc. This has proved to be a popular programme and has seen them entered into competitions at the National Art Gallery. Our other skills programme is also because of a young lady who offered not just her skills but her tools and materials to start an earring workshop. The ladies who attend have gone from strength to strength in this endeavor and their earrings can be found in Tanaya Pharmacy in Newlands, Mel’s Hair salon in Milton Park and a few other retailers. The aim for our skills programmes is to teach a man to fish and ensure that we produce quality products that are bought in our market.
QUESTION : The up coming pillow fight event , tell us more about it.
ANSWER : With Love Foundation are hosting a Guinness Book World Record in Zimbabwe namely to have the Largest Pillow Fight Ever whilst raising money to purchase a Mobile Soup Kitchen on October 12 at Old Hararians Sports Club.
With love Foundation believe that giving back is the greatest opportunity to make our world a better place. The “Largest Pillow Fight Ever” is an event designed to raise awareness and support for our organization and its programs. This initiative offers an opportunity to work in tandem with the Zimbabwean nation building policy as it targets people from all walks of life, namely academic institutions and varying fields of commerce and industry in Zimbabwe
The main goals of the “Largest Pillow Fight Ever” event are to fundraise for the With Love Foundations’ programs that benefit the Underprivileged, Orphaned and Vulnerable children and provide publicity for the organization at national and international levels. The organisation provides access to skills training and basic resources for the most economically vulnerable members of society, through the activities it provides: Soup Kitchen; Zim Clean; One Million Pieces, Edudoption and an Arts Workshop. It costs $1000 to set up a fully functional soup kitchen then $120 per day ensures up to 250 people are fed. We currently run the soup kitchen once a week and provide food packs for their sustenance the rest of the week. Our intention is to purchase a mobile soup kitchen which will cost us $10,000 to fully kit. This will allow us to reach more people who are in need.
The With Love Mobile Soup Kitchen (WLMSK) will provide free healthy, nutritious and appetizing meals for school children and marginalized members of the Zimbabwean community beginning with Mashonaland Central Province. Thereafter we intend to expand to the Masvingo Province and Matabeleland Province. Every person who comes to us is welcomed, without regard to race, sex, age, colour, religion, national origin, handicap, or income.
The History of Pillow Fighting… to date the current World Record for the largest pillow fight was set on November 14, 2008, at Butlins in Minehead, Somerset, England headlined by former X Factor singer Chico Slimani who was also using this event to raise money for charity. The previous record was beaten by 58 people, with 3,706 people all fighting at once. We intend on beating this record by inviting 5000 people to come and pillow fight in the name of ‘Unity of Common Purpose’.
WLF with the aid of various government ministries has officially invited the Guinness Book of World Records to claim this event as a world record. The Guinness Book of World Records have given us the go ahead (Claim ID: 418645), and The Book of African Records will be there to officiate this event. The event will be extensively publicized using all mediums of communications, including but not limited to, electronic media and print media. We are using this event, as an opportunity to shed much needed positive light on our country and make history. African Book of Records will officiate the event and send all evidence including photo and video footage to the Guinness World Book of Records as well as an official statement to verify.
“We are making a new world record and helping people in the same breath…we need to access the hundreds of starving children out there…no child should go to sleep on an empty stomach!”Please bring your pillows to donate to an orphanage, old people’s home or institution of your choice.
Admission is $1 For Children Under 12 and $2 For Adults
Starts at 12pm
Lots of Raffle Prizes to be won and Giveaways.
A fun day for the whole family whilst making history.
Contact Chenaimoyo on 0736971414 or Lynnette on O772264471.
