The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE


Tribune Staff Reporter


lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL nonprofit organisation has reaffirmed its commitment to provide COVID-19 support to families negatively impacted by the health crisis.

Jasmine Frazer, a young disabled mother and also founder of “Ma’s Meals”, told The Tribune that since the start of the pandemic, the organisation has come to the aid of more than 2,000 people who have been affected by COVID-19 by distributing care packages and hot meals.

“On a weekly basis, we feed some 300 to 400 persons,” she said. “Since the pandemic, we have reached over 2,000 people easily and we have grown and we have even started to distribute clothing, shoes and bed pads and toiletries for the elderly. The whole nine yards so it's an ongoing process.

“We deliver the items because we are practicing social distancing and the weeks we don’t open the kitchen, we still go to different areas and distribute the hot meals.”

But, as the country begins its phased re-opening, Ms Frazer said she doesn't want people to get the idea that the group will end its operations and stop assisting people.

She said: “I started doing care packages when the pandemic started but it ended up branching out to a soup kitchen that is every Friday and it is still ongoing. So, the main point is I don’t want people to feel that since things are starting to move again that the grocery giveaways stopped, or the soup kitchen stopped.”

The feeding initiative, which was launched in April, was inspired by the death of Ms Frazer’s grandmother, but mostly by the events surrounding the COVID-19 virus.

The group’s initial goal was to provide 300 hot meals every Friday for people in Nassau. Now, she said their efforts also include providing clothing and other essential items to those most vulnerable.

Most recently, Ms Frazer said the organisation was able to donate some 15 tablets to students without learning devices. This comes as private and public school institutions have switched to virtual learning methods in response to the COVID crisis.

She said: “This month we were able to give 15 tablets to less fortunate students that did not have the means to accommodate virtual learning and I was able to go to some of the kids in Mason’s Addition and I did all the kids in Black Village and I branched out to other less fortunate students.”

Ms Frazer also credited one of her mentors, Courtney Strachan who is now deceased, for helping to further the work of the organisation.

“He passed away Friday of last week and so that was heart wrenching for me but it gave me even more motivation and drive that this is something that we need and this is something that needs to happen,” she said.

To learn more about the group’s work or to provide donations, Ms Frazer can be reached at 242-817-5010.