B.E.L. gives out Christmas hampers
Most of us have been out stocking up on supplies and gift items for an enjoyable Christmas. But what if your family was so poor that you could not afford to buy anything for Christmas dinner, let alone give your children toys. The situation is sad, but very real in many parts of the country. Today one company brightened up the Christmas for some poverty stricken families. The Belize Electricity Limited went into the St. Martin De Porres area to play Santa Claus and his elves.
Diana Forman, Public Relations Officer, B.E.L.
“At Belize Electricity Limited, we believe it is important to reach out to members of the community, our customers really. So what we have done over the past four years is put together some Christmas hampers for special people in our community whom we believe are very deserving of that. So when we agreed on our theme which is, “Providing for the needs of those who serve in the spirit of Love, Peace and Goodwill,” we feel in our hearts that there are people out there who need some assistance from us. So what we have done our employees have put together funds and the total amount is match by management and together we purchase items which include toys and food items and then we go around the country. This year we are providing thirty-four hampers throughout the country of Belize and it is really heartwarming to see that people are out there who really are in need and look forward to seeing us every year.”
Q: “There are thirty-four Christmas hampers that will be given out. But we do know there are far more people living in poverty, so it must be difficult for B.E.L. to decide which family will be receiving this hamper, how do you all go about deciding that?”
Diana Forman
“Okay, we do know some people who are really in some very bad situations, so we get a list every year and each year we have employees who bring in names from across the company for those persons who live in their particular area or throughout the country whom they know are really in need. And we put those names and depending on the total amount of funds collected we short list it but each year the list keeps growing and we try our endeavor best to try and improve and reach out to everybody that we can.”
Forman says on Christmas morning, they continue the tradition of feeding the hungry by giving a Christmas breakfast to homeless people at the St. Vincent De Paul Good Samaritan Center on Pickstock Street.
