The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama civic leader Dudley Seide is helping to feed thousands of people affected during the COVID-19 shutdown that has left many unemployed and struggling to put food on the table.

Some 1,500 persons turned up at the Reach Out Community Centre on Banyan Lane, Freeport, where they were fed a hot meal and given a grocery care package.

Mr Seide met droves of people waiting outside the centre when he arrived around 7am.

"I could not believe it when I came here today and saw all the people waiting for us. The Lord laid it on my heart four weeks ago to do this," he said.

Mr Seide made an appeal four weeks ago to people in the community to bring food and other items to the community centre for distribution to needy families.

The response from local residents was overwhelming. He described it as like the miracle of the five loaves of bread and three fish.

"What we have seen is a miracle - all of this happened without the help of any major sponsors, just the community donating towards this cause," he said.

Mr Seide was able to distribute 500 pampers on the first day, and on the second day distributed grocery packages, including 700 bags of chicken.

"This week we fed 1,000 people, and today alone we fed 1,500 persons who came here," he added.

Mr Seide thanked a local church and the Grand Bahama Disaster Relief Foundation for their assistance.

"I also want to thank those folks who dropped off items. This is really a community effort, and I feel humbled that I am doing this. I know that I am only here as a vessel of God who is using me to do this work," he said.

Seide and his team of boys have also travelled into West End, Pinder's Point, and Holmes Rock distributing groceries to families in West Grand Bahama.

He explained that helping people is a "passion" for him because he knows what it is like going to be bed hungry.

"I could remember not having anything to eat going to bed hungry, and having no lunch money when I was growing up. I know how people feel when they don't have anything to eat.

"It is a passion of mine to help (people) in this way. I feel good when I can feed a family," Mr Seide said.

According to Mr Seide, they have helped some 3,000 persons since they started.

"It is amazing to see God work. It is a miracle," he said.

Mr Seide, and his wife, Katie, are the founders of Reach Out Ministries and Reach Out Community Centre, which assists the needy persons in the community.

Mr Seide is also the founder of the Reach Out Youth Organization (ROYO), which mentors young men. Every year it hosts the Boy to Men Conference, which is one of the largest youth mentoring conferences for boys in Grand Bahama.