N his younger years, while driving along the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, 19-year-old Jordan ‘Josh’ Bennett observed a number of homeless people scattered around the Corporate Area.

Immediately, the sight evoked a disturbed feeling within him as he was concerned about the pain they felt, where they slept and how they got their food; if they did get food.

He felt the urge to help them.

He relates: “From as long as I can remember I have had a deep passion for helping the needy.”

That dream has now become a reality as he recently, in the year 2012, formed a foundation, aimed at feeding 5,000.

Embarking on a life-changing journey the second-year student of Northern Caribbean University (NCU) mentioned that “being blessed with a caring family led him to have a caring personality”.

After sharing and discussing the idea with his aunt, they both agreed to make the foundation name allude to the Bible. The Christian for five years says views Jesus as his supreme example, hence the reason why he chose. ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ to be the name of the foundation. The sole mission of the foundation is “to help to change the world by changing individual lives”.

After months of planning, the foundation finally had its first feeding in April 2012 and December of the same year, where volunteers went around to various small inner-city communities and fed as many people as possible.

The total number of persons the foundation fed that year was 1,500.

The lover of music shared “the reception for this feeding programme was tremendous, persons were smiling when approached with the lunches, and it was a joy to see the look on their faces”.

In the upcoming feeding the non-profit organisation aims to feed at least 5,000 persons, the date for this event will be on December 22, 2013.

In effort to increase the amount of persons fed, Bennett is petitioning those who are willing to dedicate their time to do so.

He also requests that if persons who cannot take the time out to provide physical service and want to donate any food items should contact him on the foundation’s Facebook page: Jordan Bennett-Feeding of the 5000.

— Monique Gordon