The maternal instinct is to nurture, and care for the family, and while this has always been uppermost in the mind of Audrey Lewis, mother of five, she wasn’t always able to do it.

At least not until CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, in partnership with Food For The Poor, Jamaica (FFPJ), gave her a house and several heads of goat last year.

Today, she declares her family is “happy and comfortable”.

“We were not living in a good house; just one room. Now it’s so amazing. The children are happy and comfortable. They help me carry the goats to bush to eat and to cut grass to feed them,” Lewis said.

She was addressing the press launch of the FFPJ 2019 5K Walk/Run two weeks ago.

One of the four goats in her care has already had kids, Lewis reported, and she is working to expand the herd with the hopes of selling some and buying more to earn much-needed funds to care for her family.

The bank also funded the provision of goats for rearing for three other CIBC FirstCaribbean/Food for the Poor residences in St Catherine.

When FFPJ launched its “Make a Difference 5K initiative” in 2017 with the aim of building 100 homes for needy Jamaicans by year end, CIBC FirstCaribbean contributed and, has so far funded the construction of 15 houses.

“We feel privileged to partner with FFPJ to help communities grow, develop and enjoy improved living standards,” the bank’s managing director, Nigel Holness said.

“The bank recognises that homeownership is at the top of the list for virtually every adult in Jamaica [and] while we offer preferential rates and a range of products to assist potential homeowners, we also recognise that there are some who cannot take advantage of these due to their dire financial situation. This is why we are partnering with FFPJ to provide shelter for the most needy in our society. The goats, we expect, will in the future provide a sustainable source of income for the beneficiaries,” Holness added.

Food For the Poor, the largest charity organisation in Jamaica, is the local arm of the Florida-based FFPJ – the largest international relief and development organisation in the United States of America. The interdenominational Christian organisation assists the poor in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, providing emergency relief and aid programmes in the areas of housing, food, medical, water sanitisation, education, agriculture outreach, and microenterprises.

CIBC FirstCaribbean has been supporting FFPJ since 2010, when the bank contributed to relief efforts in Haiti following a devastating earthquake, and again in 2016 following Hurricane Matthew. The funds donated by the bank helped in the dissemination of food, water and other critical supplies.

CIBC FirstCaribbean funded construction of a 2-bedroom home under the FFPJ programme, as well as goats for rearing and providing a sustainable source of income for the family.