Food for the Poor helps start up soup kitchen, poultry farms

Food for the Poor has once again lent its assistance to those in need, this time to the Aliki Woman’s Group of the Essequibo River, which received a quantity of kitchen utensils on Wednesday at the organisation’s headquarters in Festival City.

The items received by the group include a freezer, refrigerator, four pots, two basins and frying pans, knives, five buckets with covers and 24 pairs of long boots. The value of the items is $400,000 and they are to help the women in the start-up of their soup kitchen which will help to provide meals for the less fortunate children in the community.
Vice-Chairman of the group Lynette Whittington said they were thankful for the donation which would benefit everyone.
The Aliki Women’s Group which has been in existence since last year July has been working with Food for the Poor for almost a year. The social group is currently conducting craft and sewing classes with the aim to teach the women of the community a marketable skill.

Also presented on Wednesday were cheques to farmers who will benefit from a new poultry project undertaken by Food for the Poor. The Ann’s Grove Farmers Poultry Project, which was officially launched on Wednesday, provides 20 farmers, from Ann’s Grove and surrounding communities, with the opportunity of improving their livelihood through the rearing of broiler chicks. This project is valued at $4.3 million.

The other communities that will benefit from this project are: Bee Hive, Nabaclis, Two Friends, Dochfour, Clonbrook and Nootenzuil. Five of the 20 farmers were present on Wednesday to accept a cheque worth $250,000 each which is to be used to purchase 300 broiler chicks, 32 bags of feed, water cans, feeding bins and vitamins.

Patricia Sam, speaking on behalf of the farmers, expressed her gratitude to Food for the Poor and Executive Director Leon Davis, pointing out that this is not the first time the organisation had assisted the farmers.

Addressing the small gathering, Davis said the aim of the project is to help get the farmers back on their feet after many of them were affected by the floods. He said that while the organisation cannot assist everyone it has done a very credible job and tries to assist the poorest of the poor.

Meanwhile, the Pomeroon Education Project which was the recipient of a boat engine a few weeks back has received seven computers from the organisation. The computers which are valued at $360,000 are to be used over the upcoming August holidays to teach school children how to use computers. Zena Bone of the Pomeroon Education Project said that while Pomeroon is a riverain area it has harnessed the energy from the wind and sun and will use this as a means of powering the computers. She expressed gratitude to Food for the Poor for its continued assistance when it is needed.