World Record Broken

Ladles of Love breaks world record and feeds thousands for Mandela Day.

Ladles of Love has announced that it has broken a world record. For Mandela Day 2022, volunteers and corporates converged on Cape Town’s CTICC and Johannesburg’s Nelson Mandela Square to set the record for the world’s largest mosaic created entirely out of cans of food. The accumulated donations aimed to honour Madiba’s legacy to take action against poverty and hunger.

The organisation says that it aims to feed those facing food insecurity with the tins of food, fresh nutritious meals made on the day and with the money raised.

The organisation adds that it works year-long supplying a million nourishing meals a month to communities in need.

Danny Diliberto, founder and CEO of Ladles of Love, says:

“We started so small. While walking, I encountered a homeless man wrapped in an old duvet. He was angry at the world, shouting and swearing. I offered him something to eat. The man stopped screaming, said thank you and was gone.”

“The world is a different place when you are hungry. A basic need was met and dignity restored — even just for a moment. At that moment, Ladles of Love was born and today — eight years later — we have grown exponentially; as has the hunger situation in our country, unfortunately.”

“Today was huge and the spirit of Ubuntu in both cities was incredible. We placed around 90 000 food cans on the mosaics across the two cities and we’ve raised so much in terms of actual food and support to carry on with our mission to feed as many people as we can for as long as we can. We cannot thank those that got involved enough.”

Johannesburg saw 32 040 food cans placed on the South African flag mosaic, with Cape Town seeing 56 685 food cans placed on the Madiba mosaic. There were 1.3 tonnes of veg chopped and donated in Johannesburg, with 2.5 tonnes chopped and donated in Cape Town.

Seven thousand sandwiches were made in Johannesburg and 24 000 were made on site in Cape Town. A total of 55 000 were made (as many were made off-site and donated).

Ladles of Love has extended a heartfelt “thank you” to all the people and businesses that stepped up to break two world records and to address the alleviation of hunger.

The event also succeeded in supporting these United Nations goals, which are as follows: