The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

LOCAL non-profit food rescue programme Hands for Hunger says the need for food assistance will likely remain past the government’s June deadline to end its national outreach.

Hands for Hunger is part of the government’s National Food Distribution Task Force and is feeding thousands of families in need.

When asked about the expected need for food once the government’s programme comes to an end next month, Hands for Hunger executive director, Keisha Ellis said: “I think that food insecurity has been a part of our reality for quite some time. So do I think that food insecurity will magically disappear at the end of June? Absolutely not. No matter how hard Hands for Hunger is working, that just won’t be the case.

“I think that there will definitely still be a need past June and I’m really excited to see what other innovative ways we can begin to address this now long-term food insecurity that’s been caused by COVID-19.”

She said while the demand for food has remained high during the pandemic, the numbers have been fluctuating recently.

“Well, you know what the numbers remain high but the names of the people that are on the distribution list that’s changing, because what we’re finding is that there are some people that had a very hard time at the start of the pandemic but are now finding their footing but at the same time there are people at the beginning of the pandemic that were able to kind of hold on a little bit.

“They weren’t in need at the very beginning but now because things are, you know, going on for so long and it’s taking quite a while for the economy to really bounce back.

“We’re finding that people that were able to hold on, that were okay for you know the first half of the pandemic are now presenting themselves as needing assistance.”

As for the number of people being assisted this quarter since January, she answered: “In this phase of the task force we are currently serving 3,500 families.”

She clarified that the number was within the organisation’s zone of the southwest and southeast portion of New Providence—from Fox Hill Road south in the east straight down to Adelaide.

Yesterday, Hands for Hunger’s pantry opened at the Shops at Carmichael Road plaza.

Ms Ellis gave a tour of the pantry which is now serving people, but only those on their distribution list.

“We’re serving our families that we have from the task force and they are served from this place. We are not able to take on people just here,” she explained. “We’re asking people to book appointments to come.”

The pantry’s location is very important in helping Hands for Hunger assist persons in need.

“We actually saw in our research that there are a number of people seeking help from us from this Carmichael area and so we thought this would be a really good place for us to really get into the heart of the community that’s asking us for help and the good thing about City 2000 is that it’s actually really accessible,” Ms Ellis said. “We found that from this location it was relatively easy for people to get to us from all over the island.”

She said the organisation is seeking donations to help further its work.

“Now those of you that know Hands for Hunger, for (a) long time our main bread and butter, so to speak, used to be food collected from the hotels. Of course with the hotels being closed, that’s not much of an option as it was before. Now we hope to see that increase even more and get back to the numbers where they were. We do see an increase already….so with those items…..we’re still able to support all of our agencies that we’ve always supported.

“So what we want to do with this pantry is really increase assistance to individual families, not so much through our agencies, and, yes, because we now are stocking our shelves we absolutely are seeking donations from food stores, from wholesalers. I know people tend to think of us as fresh food only, but we absolutely love the donations of canned goods and pantry items.”