Head of FFP Guyana Leon David on Tuesday met Linden residents and members of the LSC to discuss ways to serve the community. This time around, the charity intends to coordinate its work through the LSC.
David told the gathering that his organisation has attempted to work with several groups in Linden over the past 18 years but was never able to meet the direct objective of satisfying the needs and empowering the poorer class of society. “We tried several groups over the years and ran into so many road blocks. We had an excellent feeding programme with a group from Silvertown and before you know it things went out of hand and that failed,” he said. Davis also said FFP had had a distribution centre aback the plaza but “that too was a disaster because what we found that they use to be stocking up the stuff and eventually had to throw away a whole lot of things that is not what we are looking for.”
In the light of this, David said the NGO had opted to distribute items directly to residents via their truck system but the LSC had recently proposed that the two groups collaborate. He said in its letter the LSC satisfied the criteria expected from a reputable organisation to handle the affairs of the FFP. As such, David said, the LSC would be the oversight body for a FFP Linden committee which would do its best to meet residents’ needs.
The FFP head also told the gathering of its success in other areas of Guyana regarding distribution of items, housing and income generating activities. “You can have the same successes here but it necessitates you people working together and I am confident that with the Linden Salvation Council being the organising body I am sure that this would be the answer to all… problems,” he said. David urged the committee to set up a library and a sewing establishment which FFP will furnish. He also asked it to consider providing door to door services to shut-ins.
David also pointed out that while items received from FFP are free of cost, a cost is attached for transporting them. He encouraged established groups and religious organisations to commit to a fixed monthly donation or pledge, to assist in offsetting these costs. He also encouraged the committee to host fundraising activities to assist FFP achieve its objectives. FFP hopes to start distributing items in Linden within two weeks.
