Rainforest Seafoods and National Baking Company have partnered to donate 10,000 meals to 10,000 families across Jamaica.

The initiative, being done in conjunction with Food For The Poor (FFP) and the Jamaica Red Cross, aims to help relieve the burden of accessing food by some of the country’s most vulnerable due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

With the

issue of hunger expected to worsen amid the virus’ impact, the two leading food

producers are preparing to assist the fight.

Rainforest

Seafoods, Director of Corporate Relations, Roger Lyn, said, “In the grand

scheme of things, our donation is a drop in the bucket. However, we hope it is

the start of a national effort to both raise awareness and much-needed funds to

continue the distribution of food items to those most in need.”

Lyn added, “We’re

proud to partner with Food For The Poor and The Jamaica Red Cross, two

outstanding charitable organisations, who will distribute the meals fairly and

transparently to 10,000 families, ensuring those most vulnerable will benefit.”

Prior to the

onset of COVID-19, FFP was providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of

people, a number that is thought to have increased.

The

organisation’s director, Kivette Silvera said, “While we do not have the official

statistics on the number of persons that have been negatively impacted by the

virus, what we do know is that before COVID-19, we were serving over 400,000

Jamaicans island-wide.

“Since the

onset of the pandemic, this number has increased substantially, and so the need

for donations has intensified based on the increased demand for

assistance.”

Silvera said

the increased need has made partnerships with Rainforest and National more

significant.

For his

part, National Baking Company’s, Director of Sales and Marketing, Craig

Hendrickson, said “The pandemic has intensified the challenges for those

having to cope with everyday uncertainties of livelihood, and while there is

much more to be done, each life enhanced by this donation is counted as a great

win in our books – as we work towards bettering the lives of our people.

“In Jamaica,

food security continues to be a significant challenge requiring continuous

attention and partnership, and we will need all hands on deck in creating

sustainable change.”