By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

BISHOP Lawrence Rolle has appealed to the public for help with his outreach programme as he awaits the release of government funding amid mounting financial pressures.

The Singing Bishop, in an interview with The Tribune yesterday, discussed the ongoing hardships of his food outreach programme, which continues to feed thousands on a weekly basis.

He said even as the country continues its slow march to recovery from the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic his feeding ministry still serves thousands. He also said that during these difficult times he prays for assistance in the hard work he does for the community.

“(On) Wednesday gone about 2,000 plates gone through my hands and the thing about it is if you don’t have the money to pay the people as they work, because they have their bills, they’re mad,” he said. “The young man who cleans the pots say ‘you ain’t pay me’ and then the man walk up off the job and gone leave the dirty pots right there. That’s what I’m talking about.

“So, as a young leader my cry is that I pray (to) God that God will send people to help because also being a gospel singer this is the first time I’m going onstage to sing and I can’t sing two songs because my body is tired. My body I sometimes get so tired I fall asleep with my apron on.”

Moreover, with the recent loss of one of the revenue sources, including from a park they rented out, and mounting financial pressure from the bank to meet loan payments, Bishop Rolle said that he is struggling to continue to feed the less fortunate.

While Bishop Rolle mentioned that the government had allotted funding for his outreach programme during their latest budget, he said he has yet to have actually received the financial support.

It was because of this that the Singing Bishop emphatically called on the government and the Bahamian people to help in any way they can so he can continue his vital work in the inner city communities.

“So, my appeal to this country is to help. Of course, the government put us on the budget, but when is it that they’re going to release the money to help feed the people?” Bishop Rolle asked.

“We deliver, everybody knows that we deliver. This is not a talk, this is action, this is the real deal where it takes a toll on my body where every week I have to go for therapy and it costs me money because every time my back gets healed I go back working. Looking at 20 or more pans of bread, all evening I’ll be baking. Sometimes the bread is coming out the fires sometimes 11 or 12 o’clock at night. Whether rain or shine, people flocks this area.”

As part of his ongoing effort to raise funding for his social outreach programmes and pay back the bank, Bishop Rolle invited the public to attend a fundraising concert at Fusion Superplex this Saturday at 5pm.

“On Saturday coming at 5 o’clock I’m going to be at Fusion doing a concert to make funds. It’s because FTX gave us some money, the country knows about it, about $50,000. We borrowed money against that money and now the bank is calling for that money and I got no way of paying for it. They took the park from us. We got no income coming in, you understand no income. We use to feed them off that park with what little money used to come in. I pray to God that the government step on in and people who could help step on in because I’m 55. It’s not easy, I’m not as young as I used to be.

“It’s going to be at Fusion on Saturday. It costs for me to get in there over $3,000 and so I got the tickets for about $50 to see if I can put something on the money we borrowed for the less fortunate cause the bank is calling.

“From the country was lockdown in 2020 ain’t much has changed up in here cause the people are still flocking, some of these are not working people. People are old, people are retired. They can’t work then you got the baby children they can’t work either they need people to help them.”