Just under one year after it announced an ambitious goal to reach the day when no Bahamian goes to bed hungry and to assist all those who feed the needy, the Bahamas National Feeding Network today made good on its promise, donating $30,000 in food vouchers to 30 organisations during a touching ceremony at a luncheon paid for by an anonymous donor.

“This is such a proud moment, but it is just a taste of things to come,” said Frank Crothers, a director. “Those of us who are blessed are also charged with reaching out to those who have less and need more. Today, we are surrounded by people who do that every day – they reach out to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, provide shelter for the homeless. And now, through the Bahamas National Feeding Network, we are able to lessen their burden by providing food vouchers they may redeem at various locations.”

“The national poverty rate of The Bahamas in 2013 was stated as 12.5%, up from 9.3% in 2001,” said Mosseff House’s Dianne Bingham, quoting an official household survey that based its poverty level on $11.64 a day, the money it calculated would be needed to cover basic essentials and a low-cost diet. “Those numbers are startling when you consider that the highest rate of unemployment – therefore the greatest probability of not rising above the poverty level through legal means – is among those under the age of 25 where the unemployment rate hovers at about 30.6%, according to the same survey.”3

According to Salvation Army Divisional Commander Major Lester Ferguson, who also serves as a director of the Feeding Network, the extent of poverty in The Bahamas is far greater than most people realize. He sees the impact daily of higher than normal unemployment -- the crowded households, poor health care, hopelessness, despair. He’s also seen what a helping hand can mean.

“Every week, dozens of people stand outside just waiting for us to open the doors and by the time we are serving, we could have up to 200 people – young, old, formerly employed, down on their luck – they all come together because they know there is comfort, hot food and spiritual companionship,” he said. “What the Feeding Network represents is the opportunity to assist many more and to do so in a way that is efficient, timely and so desperately needed.”

Philip Smith, a former businessman who has devoted himself to feeding the hungry for nearly a decade, is the hands-on, day-to-day manager of the Feeding Network.

“I have seen people on benches, asleep on curbs, even in graveyards and I have seen the extent and the pain of hunger in this country,” said Smith. “It isn’t pretty and if you have never gone to bed hungry, you don’t know how it feels. Hunger hurts. We want to stop that hurt and find a way to feed every single person in The Bahamas, starting with every single person in New Providence, then spreading to the Family Islands but we cannot do this alone.

That is why we will be calling on everyone to donate during Bahamas National Feeding Network Dollar Day later this month and we will have coin collection boxes for one week in December in participating stores. We will be doing school talks asking children to contribute spare coins for one day to help feed the hungry. This is a national effort and we pledge to provide a national solution because in a country of riches like The Bahamas, no one should have to go to bed hungry.”

Organisations receiving vouchers included Bahamas Red Cross, Bethel Baptist Church, Brea Seventh Day Adventist, Calvary Bible Church, Club Restoration, Cornerstone Zion Ministries/Cornerstone Haitian Church/Cornerstone Partners of Hope, Ebenezer Methodist Church, Eljay's Hilltop Cottage Ministries, Family of Faith Ministry, Great Commission Ministries Intl., Judea Baptist Church, Kingdom Mercy Ministries, Kingdom Ambassadors World Outreach Ministries, Lakeview Church of God, Mosseff House, New Bethany Baptist Cathedral, New Life Restoration Ministries, New Mount Zion Missionary Church, Operation SOLD, Remnant Tabernacle of Praise, Sanctuary of the Redeem, Society of St. Vincent DePaul, Solid Rock Church, South Andros Christian Center, The Anglican Diocese, The Salvation Army and Youth for God Through Christ.

Bahamas National Feeding Network Executive Director Philip Smith, left, and Director Frank Crothers distributed $30,000 in food vouchers recently to assist those who feed the hungry, including Anna Murray of the South Andros Christian Centre.