The Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) is encouraging insurance companies to make it easier for farmers, whose crops were destroyed during Hurricane Irene, to claim benefits.

"We want to take this opportunity to make an appeal to persons in authority to ensure that those persons, farmers in particular in the islands who lost quite a bit of their vegetation, to have those restored because they rely on those as income for their family," BCC Vice President Victor Cooper said yesterday during a press conference at Cousin McPhee AME Church to announce a National Day of Prayer to be led by the council.

While seeking to help farmers, Cooper also said the council is organizing other relief efforts.

"Right now churches are in the process locally of raising funds to assist persons in our Family Islands whose homes were damaged in Irene.  So the hurricane relief fund is going.  Once we visited the island of Exuma, we got firsthand knowledge of persons needing help.

"And so we saw several homes that were damaged and immediate steps and efforts were put in place to secure funds to ensure that those homes could be restored."

Several islands sustained damage as a result of the storm.

BCC President Rev. Dr. Ranford Patterson said that despite the destruction on some islands, Bahamians are blessed in that no lives were lost during the storm. 

The day of prayer will be on Wednesday and BCC officials will meet at 10 locations across New Providence between noon and 1 p.m.

The meetings are scheduled for Transfiguration Baptist Church, Market Street; Lynden Pindling International Airport; Potter Cay Dock; Arawak Cay; Rawson Square; Paradise Island next to the taxi stand; the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Base; Yamacraw Beach; South Beach Pools and Clifton Heritage Park.

That night at 7:30 there will also be a praise rally at Pinewood Gardens Park.  Similar prayer sessions are scheduled for the Family Islands.

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