The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Guyana, yesterday donated $20 million in food supplies to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) in effort to provide support and relief to the people of Guyana during the current COVID-19 outbreak.
The Church, which has been in Guyana for approximately 30 years, made the decision to join forces with the authorities to help meet the needs of those experiencing difficult times due to the pandemic.
At a press conference held at the CDC’s headquarters, Director-General Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig accepted the donation on behalf of the Com-mission. He reminded the press that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no stranger to giving.
Craig noted that the church’s response to COVID-19 situation is timely, especially since there is now a system in place to help prioritise and identify vulnerable people and so the donations will be given to those persons who are most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. He went on to explain that a form was developed by a unit at the Ministry of Social Protection where persons can go online, fill it out, and the system will identify who is most vulnerable, based on the information provided.
Once these individuals are identified, he said, CDC will utilise the information to prepare hampers and distribute them to those needy persons. He added that apart from the hampers, they also have vouchers which they intend to distribute, rather than have persons come in which defeats the purpose of physical distancing.
The Director-General thanked the church for their continued support.
Wayne Barrow, the representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, told the press, “It is a wonderful opportunity to do what Christians do.” He added, “COVID-19 is an event never planned for, in all my years I have never seen anything like this, to impact the whole world in a negative manner.”
Barrow said that the Latter-Day Church is pleased to be assisting the Civil Defence Commission. He declared, “This is what we do, given that the church has been helping, we know the project we continue to do is motivated by the doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
He stated, that in April, the church offered prayers for the protection of health care workers, the disappearance of the virus and for things to return to normalcy.
Barrow disclosed that in about two weeks, the church will present its second donation valued at $20 million, consisting of medical supplies to frontline health workers which will include face masks, isolation gowns, and vitamin C tablets among other essential items. He added, “The church is not giving a hand out, but a hand up, to allow us the opportunity to rebuild.”
The Church Elder urged the people of Guyana to continue to adhere to the guidelines set out by the Ministry of Public Health.
Over the years, the church has been involved in a number of projects to offer assistance to the Guyanese people.
