By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

SOARING demand for food aid is pushing Grand Bahama’s major feeding organisations to their limits, as more residents turn to non-profits to help stretch dwindling grocery budgets.

The Grand Bahama Red Cross Society and Reach Out Ministries are reporting a surge in weekly calls, walk-ins, and pleas to be added to their feeding programmes, signs, they say, of deepening hardship across the island.

Kimberly Outten, administrator at the Grand Bahama Red Cross, said the organisation’s long-running Meals on Wheels service has been operating at full capacity for months. The programme delivers hot meals Monday through Friday to people with disabilities and elderly residents, with “about 50 to 55 persons on that programme.”

Demand now far exceeds those numbers.

“We definitely are seeing and have been seeing a lot of people coming in looking for assistance, trying to get on that programme, but we are non-profit and we can’t accommodate everybody,” she said.

Many of those seeking help told the Red Cross they had already exhausted other avenues. Ms Outten said people often arrive after visiting Social Services or churches, only to be redirected to the Red Cross. “When we try to direct them to other organisations or agencies like Social Services or churches, a lot of them say they’ve been there and Social Services sent them to the Red Cross,” she said.

The Red Cross also distributes monthly grocery parcels to 22 families. Still, new walk-ins continue to overwhelm capacity. “In addition to the ones that we already have on our programme, I would say we get between 12 and up to 20 weekly are seeking help,” she said.

Requests often go far beyond food. “People come to us for everything. We don't provide everything. A lot of people come in looking for home assistance like home repairs and rent assistance, but we don't do that,” she added.

As Thanksgiving approaches, the organisation is preparing for next week’s Feed the 10,000 initiative, a mass feeding supported by community, business, and church partners. Ms Outten said: “I actually think that it's more than 10,000 meals that will be provided next Thursday. Anybody can come and get a Thanksgiving meal. We'll be one of the various stations on the island where people can come.”

Reach Out Ministries is seeing the same pressure.

Founder Dudley Seide said the calls keep coming. “It’s been steady. I received six calls for groceries early this morning,” he said, adding that the organisation typically receives 60 to 70 requests for assistance and continues its weekly Sunday feeding at its community centre from noon to 4pm.

The group will also join next week’s Thanksgiving effort and is preparing for its annual C feeding programme and Christmas giveaway. Mr Seide added that new initiatives, including a girls’ mentoring programme launched three months ago, have expanded their outreach footprint.

He said the sharpest need is among older residents struggling to stay afloat. “We are seeing the old folks that are needing assistance,” he said. “They’re not working and they are not getting their pension on time, and so they are facing challenges.”