In March of 2020, all schools were shut down due to the coronavirus and GO’s afterschool program was no exception. Ruth said that the community suffered from a triple whammy: persistent poverty, closure of the Skeldon Sugar Estate, and closure of many businesses due to COVID-19. With many parents being laid off and students no longer recieving school-provided lunches and after-school snacks from GO, there was a great need in the community to provide food.
Guyanese Outreach stepped in to provide aid by creating food baskets for local families in need. We individually qualified each family who applied in order to prioritize those with the greatest needs. We prioritized unemployed, single parents and the elderly with no income except their government pensions, which in Guyana is nominal.
We served 72 baskets each week to families, most of which have no other means of daily food. Each basket contained approximately $17.00 of groceries. Single-parent families would stretch those groceries to last 2 weeks. Each food basket included the following: 3 pints rice, 3 lbs. flour, 1 bottle cooking oil, ½ lb. of onion and garlic, 2 lbs. potatoes, 1 packet of masala and curry powder, 1 lb. salt, and 1 lb. split-pea. We provided 4-5lbs of chicken, but switched to cans chicken or fish.
It was heartbreaking to close the program when we ran out of funds in early April of 2021. But we are thankful that we were able to deliver 3,178 baskets.
Ruth’s only regret is not being able to serve more families. All donations went directly to purchase food. None was used for any administrative costs or salaries. It was truly a blessing and joy as we labored together to feed the poorest of the poor.