Celebrating Mandela Day 2025: join Ladles of Love in feeding the future

As South Africa prepares to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s legacy on 18 July 2025, Ladles of Love has launched its latest Mandela Day campaign, urging people around the world to "Make Every Day a Mandela Day and Feed the Future”. 

This year, the NPO has partnered with acclaimed Australian street artist Hans Bruechle—also known as Handbrake—to deliver an inspiring and interactive art installation that highlights community spirit and support for early childhood development (ECD).

Bruechle, a muralist known for his bold black outlines, tattoo-style aesthetic and vibrant cartoon energy, has worked with major global brands such as Porsche, Mercedes, Tesla, Harley Davidson, and Jack Daniel’s. Now, he brings his unique style to Cape Town for a meaningful purpose.

For the Mandela Day 2025 project, Hans will create a single cohesive mural design spread across 42 separate canvases—generously donated by Primeart. Once assembled, the full image will depict a detailed garden of South African native flowers, plants, and animals, surrounding a message of hope and love.

At the Ladles of Love event on July 18th volunteers will have the opportunity to contribute to each canvas with either a colourful finger print or a personally written message of hope and support for the children of the ECDs. 

Each volunteer will be able to grab a paint marker and write a personal message on the painted canvases, becoming an integral part of the overall artwork.

Once the event concludes, each of the canvases will be distributed to various ECD centres around Cape Town. The idea is to brighten the walls of these centres and to leave children with tangible, daily reminders that they are supported by a wider community.

The mural forms part of Ladles of Love’s broader Mandela Day campaign, now in its seventh year. The initiative focuses on tackling child food poverty in South Africa through volunteerism and purpose-driven partnerships. Founder and CEO Danny Diliberto explained the mission:

“At Ladles of Love, we believe that every plate of healthy food has the power to change a life. Mandela Day reminds us that we all have the ability to uplift our communities through volunteerism. This year, we’re inviting people to buy tickets and through acts of kindness, make items that support early childhood development giving small children hope and a healthy start in life.”

Bruechle added: “I feel very lucky to be able to contribute to such a fantastic organisation. Having visited a few of the ECDs now I’ve seen firsthand just what a wonderful impact Ladles of Love has on these communities, and just how much further we have to go. The fact that I can use my skill set to hopefully help in some way puts a huge smile on my face. The team have been extremely welcoming to me and I can tell that they all genuinely believe in what they’re doing. What could be better?”

He said he had many “aims” with this outreach: “I wanted to create something colourful and local for the children in the ECDs to enjoy but I also wanted to work in a collaborative element to the work so that the generous volunteers at the event could take some ownership of it too. 

“By including space for volunteers to write a heartfelt message of support or add their fingerprint not only are they adding to the overall artwork but hopefully it reminds the kids who see it that there are people out there who do care. Real people who want a better country and a better world and who hope for a bright future for every child. It might inspire them. 

“Coming from Australia I didn’t know the significance of Mandela Day until I got here but I think the collaborative nature of the mural fits right in with the notion of Ubuntu. The overall painting can only be seen when all of the canvases are together - just like a community. Each of us is our own canvas, but it’s when we’re together that the true meaning emerges.”

Ladles of Love will host large-scale events at two major venues—DHL Stadium in Cape Town and Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Johannesburg—thanks to Corporate Social Investment partnerships which allow over 10,000 volunteers to take part.

"We are incredibly excited to host Mandela Day at DHL Stadium for the first time and are proud to open our doors to the community as part of our commitment to meaningful social impact," said Gina Woodburn, CEO of DHL Stadium.

Yolanda Jones, Programme Director of Ladles of Love, said: “At Ladles of Love, we believe volunteering is more than just a good deed – it’s a civic duty and a powerful form of active citizenship. The upside of this is the joy and happiness that doing good brings to people.”

Each R250 ticket guarantees a child two nutritious meals a day for a month. Tickets and time slots can be booked at www.ladlesoflove.org.za, with options tailored for individuals, schools, and corporates.

tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za

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