05/30/2016

Community Outreach Events Help Bridge the Summer Feeding Gap for Families Who Depend on Lunch Programs during School Year.

A bouncing castle bustling with laughing children, a buffet full of fresh, hot food and bags overflowing with groceries donated by The Bahamas National Feeding Network—all of this was what greeted families who attended the second annual Love Feast hosted by Kingdom Ambassadors World Outreach Ministries on Farrington Road in Nassau, New Providence, recently.

A bouncing castle bustling with laughing children, a buffet full of fresh, hot food and bags overflowing with groceries donated by The Bahamas National Feeding Network—all of this was what greeted families who attended the second annual Love Feast hosted by Kingdom Ambassadors World Outreach Ministries on Farrington Road in Nassau, New Providence, recently. 

“Kingdom Ambassadors World Outreach Ministries is very community conscious,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of The Bahamas National Feeding Network (BNFN) which donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of food for the event. “They are outward looking rather than inward looking. They look beyond members of their church to the community as a whole and strive to meet the needs of hundreds.” 

Kingdom Ambassadors World Outreach Ministries is one of nearly 80 churches and non-government organizations (NGOs) who partner with The Bahamas National Feeding Network, an organization launched in 2013 that acts as a hub for distributing food to feeding centers around New Providence so that food gets into the hands of those who need it with as few delays as possible and nothing is wasted.
Despite the fact that The Bahamas is one of the more affluent countries in the Caribbean, nearly 43,000 Bahamians wake up each day not knowing where their next meal will come from, and about three quarters of those living in poverty reside on New Providence, according to government statistics.

“There is plenty of food and wealth on New Providence, but still one in seven Bahamians go hungry every day,” Smith said, adding that 50% of those living in hunger are children.

Many children in Nassau go to school without breakfast or receive meals through subsidized efforts like school breakfast programs. However, during the summer break most of those programs are suspended. 

“In the summer, when those school meals disappear, children find themselves hungry and with few options," Smith said.  "It impacts their health and well-being.”

But working with partners like Kingdom Ambassadors, it gives Smith hope. 

“We are so passionate about wiping out hunger,” Smith said. “If you have the right people working together, you can achieve anything.”

Member partners of the BNFN – the brainchild of businessman, ambassador and philanthropist Frank Caruthers -- are Ambassador Choral Int’l, Annis Antribus, Assemblies of God – Gladtidings Tabernacle, Bahamas Red Cross, BASH, Benevolent Women’s Ministry, Bethel Baptist Church, Brea Seventh Day Adventist, Calvary Bible Church, Change Ministries Int’l. Christian Gospel Chapel, Church of God of Prophecy, Club Restoration, Core of Hope, Cornerstone Haitian Church, Cornerstone Partners of Hope, Cornerstone Zion Ministries, Dave Horton Ministry, Ebenezer Methodist Church, Eljhay’s Hilltop Cottage Ministries, Ezekiel House of Mentoring, Family of Faith Ministry, Family and Support Foundation, Glory Carriers Ministries Int’l, God Temple of Praise, Great Commission Ministries Int’l, Haley Apostolic Ministries, Hands of Hope, Hands for Hunger, Heal Our Land, Hope for the Hopeless, Judea Baptist Church, Kingdom Ambassadors World Outreach Ministries, Kingdom Mercy Ministries, Lakeview Church of God, Low Sound Seventh Day Adventist, MCC Methodist Church, Miracle Deliverance Restoration Ministry Int’l, Mosseff House, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Mt. Paran Baptist Church, New Bethany Baptist Cathedral, New Life Restoration Ministries, New Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, New Mount Zion Missionary Church, New Vision Ministries Int’l, Opening Doors Ministries, Operation SOLD, Pentecostal Baptist Church, Prayer & Deliverance Int’l, Redemption Seventh Day Adventists, Remnant Tabernacle of Praise, Resurrection Ministries, Sanctuary of the Redeem, Second Chance Ministries, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Shiloh Temple Baptist, Society of St. Vincent DePaul, Solid Rock Church, South Andros Christian Center, Spirit of Life Ministries, St. Joseph’s Church, St. Michael Catholic Church, Stephen Dillet School, Steve McKinney Feeding Ministry, Street Outreach,  Sylvia Soup Kitchen, The Anglican Diocese, The Salvation Army, Valene Benjamin Ministries, Vision of Hope Cathedral, Word of Truth, Youth for God through Christ, Wesley Methodist Church and Zion Yamacraw Feeding Ministry.