- Chantal Erasmus lost her job as a booking agent when the coronavirus hit.
- The food lover decided to open a catering company to provide for her family.
- After making snack boxes for a client, Erasmus decided to extend the gesture to health workers.
Chantal Erasmus is grateful for frontline workers and she’s decided to go the extra mile to show her appreciation for their hard work.
For months now, the mother of two has been making "snack boxes" that she gives to healthcare workers in Cape Town.
Each box has three savoury snacks and a sweet treat.
How it all started
In August, Erasmus found herself unemployed after she was retrenched from her job at an airline.
"I decided to start a catering company called PlatterMania. I cater for all events, weddings, birthdays and corporate gigs," she said.
Not long after starting the business, her clientele started to grow.
"A client called me up and wanted to do platters for staff at the Cape Gate Medi-Clinic where her husband was a patient in the ICU Covid ward."
But Erasmus discovered that food served on a platter broke the hospital’s health regulations and that it would be better if the items were packed in separate takeaway containers.
"And that’s how it started. I thought: 'Why not do it again?'"
'It gives us hope'
On Thursday, Erasmus dropped off 50 snack boxes at the Covid-19 ICU ward of the Melomed Private Hospital in Bellville.
Hospital staffers have shouldered the worst of the pandemic as the country continues to battle a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
"This really makes us feel appreciated and humbled because someone thought of us. It won’t save us all, but it gives us hope that there are people caring for us," nursing service manager Carmen Bartes told News24.
Erasmus aims to visit four hospitals every month.
She also hopes to collect enough donated goodies so that she can start making deliveries at nursing homes.
"Each box costs about R25 to make. If people don’t want to donate money, they can always donate treats or savouries," she said.
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