Fifty families in Gambier Village received parcels of food from a local charitable organization on Saturday, in an effort to stamp out hunger in an area identified as an “area in need”.
The Bahamas Feeding Network (BFN), in conjunction with fifth graders from the Lyford Cay International School (LCIS), spent their Saturday morning walking through the western New Providence community, helping families in desperate need of assistance.
Philip Smith, executive director of the Bahamas Feeding Network (BFN) said, Gambier has always held a special place in his heart.
After feeding families last year he said, he felt compelled to “come back to the community”.
“This is the second year they LCIS have donated canned goods. So, the students of grade five collected can items and, this year what we decided to do was have the kids participate in the distribution of these goods,” Smith said.
“So, today we have brought in a lot of goods from an number of wholesalers we deal with and we are packing them and we are going throughout the community and distribute the goods.
“The packages contain bread, tuna, chicken, pastries, snacks, waters, enough to feed a family for a few days. When I started this 12 years ago, we were a lot smaller and I would fill my van with food items and I would go through Nassau and various communities and Gambier always been special to me since then, the people are grateful and always in need.”
Patricia Minnis, wife of Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said, Gambier is a community that “definitely needs assistance”.
“I spend a lot of time in here with the people, this is where I mentor with the young women and I worked with the kids form the Lyford Cay School and so I have really been involved in the Gambier area and what happens here. And so, when they said they wanted to bring food here, I welcomed it because there are some people in the area who could really use it. Some don’t have jobs, some have a lot of children so this is an area that can actually use the assistance,” she said.
“If anything is happening in Gambier, I am here and we have a lot more projects coming on stream in the near future to assist these persons. I feel very attached to these persons, I love them and I am loved by them.”
BFN prepares and distributes more than 3,000 meals weekly in an ongoing campaign to help the poor and hungry throughout The Bahamas.
The aim of the non-profit group is to perform as a hub for the collection and distribution of food items and financial and physical resources to the entities that interact daily with thousands throughout the country plagued with the uncertainty of knowing where their next meal is coming from.
