Hawksbill, Bahamas–Held at the Adena Meadows Community Park in Hawksbill, hundreds of residents in that community and surrounding areas, gathered to receive donated items from several national and international partners of the Church of God, The Bahamas District.
By Jaimie Smith, The Freeport News
The mass distribution of items, particularly of new clothing, took place Saturday, November 2 and was spearheaded by Church of God leadership in The Bahamas.
Church of God Administrative Bishop for The Bahamas, Bishop Moses Johnson, who resides in New Providence, traveled to Grand Bahama for the initiative and noted that the giveaway would not have been possible without their international partnerships for which they are eternally grateful.
“Today we are having a giv-out for the community. These individuals that are from The United States sent supplies to us (to distribute) and they are in it for the long haul. What we have decided to do, even though it is coming through the Church of God, it is not just for the Church of God members. It is to assist the entire community of Grand Bahama, which has been touched by that monster, Dorian,” he said.
Johnson noted that this is not the first donation that the Church of God has spearheaded since the passing of Dorian and it will most certainly not be the last.
“We have been on the ground for several weeks, but today we wanted to have a mass distribution so that the country and others can know we are not just in this to take care of Church of God individuals, we are in this to help the country.
“I would like to thank our international community and our international church in Cleveland, Tennessee. All of our executive officials have visited The Bahamas and we have been around the country. We have been in Abaco several times, we have been here in Grand Bahama; this has been the second time for the week and our eighth trip since the storm.
“And so, we have been on the ground; we have been doing a whole lot of stuff. Persons may not have seen us in the press, because that is not what it is all about. We believe that if we do it to the least of these, we do it unto Christ.
“We want the community to know that we are in this for the long haul. This is not just a one-week or two-week fix, we are here to assist whoever is in need of help,” Johnson said.
Visiting U. S. Church of God Bishop, Ron Sanderson noted that he and his team are here for the long haul and are willing to assist the people of The Bahamas in any way that they can.
“What you are seeing today, since the beginning as this storm was coming in, we began making preparation to be able to give and help the people of The Bahamas, through our partnership with ‘Operation Compassion,’ which is a faith-based ministry that has donated so graciously. So far, we have been able to bring in 57 truckloads of supplies, which is coming in to Bishop Moses, who is our Administrative Bishop for our Church of God here in The Bahamas,” acknowledged Sanderson.
The goods, Sanderson noted are coming in to him to have them distributed to those that need them most.
“Today with us is a group that is based out of New York, Delivering Goods, they are responsible for the clothing that is being given out today.
“Since the storm came in, this is what we have been doing. Today, is just to give this out clothing, as we are continuing to work with the community,” added Sanderson.
Delivering Good’s President and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Gurwitch, was also present for the mass distribution noted, “We are a New York based national and international charity representing the fashion industry. I am here today with our Chairman, Andrea Weiss and a group of volunteers, from New York. We represent people from all over The United States who care.
“It is a privilege to be here today; we are providing over one-and-a-half-million-dollars of new beautiful things that people need – underwear, socks, backpacks and clothing. We hope to continue to help people have a fresh start in this beautiful community.
“We hope that we can make a difference, because we represent a lot of other people that have seen what has happened and want to do their part,” concluded Gurwitch.
(Source: The Freeport News, Bahamas. By Jaimie Smith)