Over 100 vulnerable persons and health professionals were the recipients of charitable offerings, following the launch of the We Care North Leeward Programme last Thursday.
The programme, spearheaded by charitable group Generation Next Inc. and Speaker of the House of Assembly Hon. Carlos James, was launched in the rural constituency to provide relief to residents and health care workers in support of this country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Packages were distributed to health personnel who are on the frontline at five health facilities in North Leeward and vulnerable persons, including the elderly, who remained at home following the Easter weekend social distancing advisory issued by the Health Ministry.
According to James, the We Care programme promoted the good neighbour partnership thrust, which is a broad-based national effort to foster best practice personal hygiene; care for the most vulnerable and support for frontline nurses and doctors in this country’s fight against the CODVID-19 pademic.
“We were able to touch the lives of over 100 vulnerable and at-risk persons, through the donation of food items and cleaning agents for sanitary purposes. Most of the packages were provided to the elderly and persons with known underlying health issues,” James said.
The We Care programme representatives also handed over several parcels of cleaning agents and medical supplies, including 50 medical mask and 1000 gloves to five health centres, including the Chateaubelair Smart Hospital.
“We know of the challenges that our health care professionals face daily in light of this pandemic and we are happy to provide support to our hard working medical teams in North Leeward to better strengthen this fight against the COVID-19 virus,” James noted.
Accepting the contribution on behalf of the health district, Dr. Francis Murray urged persons to play their part in protecting themselves from the COVID-19 virus. He further stated that the donation will go a long way in protecting the frontline medical teams in the fight against the pandemic.
“We know that cleaning and proper hygiene are very important in protecting persons from contracting the virus and I want to encourage persons to continue to practice good personal hygiene. I want to say a special thank you on behalf of the Chateaubelair Smart Hospital and all of the staff at the health centres in North Leeward, we know it is a very hard fight against this virus and it is very important especially for us here on the frontline who are being exposed and are at risk. As everyone else, we have to protect ourselves and our families while we provide service to the people here in North Leeward,” Dr. Murray said.
Meanwhile, James noted that the programme could not have been possible without the support of the volunteers who assisted in the distribution drive and donors, including the Generation Next Inc, Harmony Investments, ECGC, Carimedix, Lennox Lampkin’s Natural Farms, Kenroy Pierre’s Trucking Service and Carlos James Law Chambers.