Residents Line Up for Food Assistance in the City!
Over seven thousand applications out of sixty thousand plus have been approved for the COVID-19 Unemployment Relief Programme. While that is one aid that is being disbursed, other help is available. Those persons who are recipients of the food pantry and boost programmes are still receiving assistance during this time and food pantry recipients are not being required to pay the usual twelve dollars. Aside from the Salvation Army’s food programme, the food pantry distribution locations such as Wellworth in downtown Belize City are also busy. There, recipients of the programme receive food items valued at around one hundred and nine dollars. We spoke with Dinesh Bhojwani of Wellworth about the assistance being given and what the public can expect when accessing the programme.
Dinesh Bhojwani
Dinesh Bhojwani, Managing Director, Wellworth
“We were basically sent a list of individuals, all the vetting gets done by the Ministry of Human Development through the Human Services Department and they basically showed up and given us their IDs and then we provide the packages for them. There are some numbers that were given out on Facebook and that the government disseminated through other social media platforms. We ask that you call and until you are given approval and number – we don’t make that approval of who gets and who doesn’t that is with the Ministry. So, once you have that you can come in. You don’t need to rush in because there is plenty. If you want to come and wait in line, that’s up to you but I wouldn’t advise it because obviously under the current situation with social distancing. We will be here all week; the food products will be here all week, so obviously no need to really rush. My suggestion is to come at different times or you can call the store at 227-3400 and we could probably give you a time that we feel is best suited for you to come in and you will have zero wait time. Once they enter the store it is fairly short because what we did this morning since it is the first day, there was a little bit of normalizing of the process. So, now going forward by later today and during the course of the week the wait time won’t be as much because the packages will be ready for them to pick up and walk away.”
Andrea Polanco
“Are you able to share what these packages entail?”
Dinesh Bhojwani
“There is rice, flour, sugar, beans, cleaning products, soap powder, soap, Clorox, fruits and vegetables, other items and there is chicken.”
For more information on how to access these aids, you can find all the details on the Ministry of Human Development’s Facebook page.
