Long after they had distributed over 300 backpacks stocked with books, folders, hand sanitizers and other back-to-school supplies, members of the Freetown Foundation found themselves undertaking the daunting task of telling scores of children and parents that there was nothing else to give.
The Freetown Church of God of Prophecy Church in Clarendon, is accustomed to having its compound flooded during the annual back to school treat and health fair, but this year the crowd was much larger than they had anticipated. The event involved free health checks for adults and senior citizens, the completion of medicals for children going back to school and the provision of refreshments, but the needs were much more than the foundation could supply.
“I think the news has spread, hence persons from far and near are here and are trying to use every opportunity to get whatever form of assistance they can, ranging from back-to-school supplies to having their school medicals done,” said pastor of the church Bishop William Hutchinson.
Clarendon was one of the parishes badly hit during the July 3 passage of Hurricane Beryl and some families are still struggling to put their lives back together. Compounding this reality is the fact that times are getting harder globally and even finding a days meal is a struggle for some. All things considered, Bishop Hutchinson understands the reason for the huge turnout.
“I understand that it is a global situation and we here in Clarendon are not exempt, and so people look forward to every opportunity where they can get something, either from government organisations, churches, or any other charity organisations,” said the pastor, whose church had distributed food, taupalin and other supplies shortly after the passage of the hurricane. These items were provided by Food for the Poor and international Christian humanitarian organisation, Samaritan’s Purse.
Programme co-ordinator for the Freetown Foundation, Opal Thompson is confident the back to school treat has contributed to minimizing the expense for parents. Although they were not able to help everyone, she tries to comfort herself with this knowledge.
“People are going through hardship because of the time that we are living in and the economic crisis that we are going through now,” she said.
“It makes me feel good that we are impacting people and we are helping families because that is our goal, to help families. Think about a mother who has four or five children and she got some bags today, we would have taken off some expense off her, she just needs to get school uniform now and other items,” she pointed out.
With the help of local and international donors, the foundation continues to impact hundreds of life each year. In order to ensure that as many persons benefited, an armband system was instituted. This meant that each person was given an armband when they pre-registered and this was removed once they had collected their supplies. But the organisers quickly learnt that not even this initiative was sufficient to control the crowd, as people jostled to get whatever assistance they could.
Bishop Hutchinson who was apart of the distribution team, said a pastors role today goes beyond just preaching the Word.
“Preaching is only five percent of the work that a pastor does, the other 95 per cent is service to humanity and administration.”
The church leader commended the foundation members, the donors and other stakeholders for joining forces to improve the lives of those in the communities served.
“I feel satisfied that the church can partner with the Freetown Foundation and the various ministries, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of National Security, because the police were making presentations and their presence were here from morning,” he said.
The Foundation is now looking forward to planning its annual Christmas treat, which is usually just as impactful.
