Our Story…

Fred & Martie’s Soup Kitchen is a regisetred Public Benefit and Non-profit Organisation (IT18A and BEE certificates available on request) which supports a large group of less fortunate people in Claremont, west of Johannesburg, South Africa.

This outreach was started more than 43 years ago by our parents, Fred and Martie Hughes who left their legacy in the very capable hands of their children, Riaan and Yolindie Oberholzer.

My parents moved to Claremont, Johannesburg in March 1981, they knew what being poor was all about.  Fred (my dad) himself was no stranger to poverty, having grown up poor.

Martie (my mom) alone, started feeding children from a table on the pavement on the side of the road in front of their house 43 years ago with sample packs of soya mince which my dad got from the factory he worked at to feed us, however, we shared our sample packs of soya mince with many others…

Martie realised there was a problem when so many people came to her to borrow food and recognised that there was a need.

She told us so many times that she started the soup kitchen because she knows what it is like to be poor and to have to go to bed hungry, praying for the hunger pains to go away…

The first day 5 children arrived and by the third day there were 200 children gathering on the pavement, on the doorstep and in the street. The traffic department stepped in and assisted with the traffic whilst the children were eating.

One woman’s passion and love for her community helped her feed hundreds. For years the poor and needy have relied on my parents not only for food but also for inspiration.

Martie sadly passed away in February 2008 and her dying wish was that should she pass away the children should be taken care of no matter what the cost.

Yolindie (daughter of Fred Hughes) got involved at this time as her dad’s health was in a poor state and he was unable to continue with the Soup kitchen on his own. Yolindie promised her dad that the children will be taken care off. The children that Martie cared for so much will never be forgotten and will never go hungry…