The Tribune

AN essential component of any non-profit organisation is the volunteers who donate countless hours to seeing the vision come to life.

The same can be said for the men, women and young people who are the backbone of the Bahamas Feeding Network (BFN), a non-profit organisation that collects and distributes food to feeding centres, soup kitchens, churches and individuals throughout the Bahamas, who were recently celebrated during a dinner at Humidor Churrascaria, a Graycliff restaurant, on West Hill Street.

“We could not do all we do without the support, time, ideas and energy of all of the incredible members of the Bahamas Feeding Network,” said Philip Smith, BFN executive director. “Our volunteers exemplify the unconditional love which must be present in you for you to do the type of work that we do. Always accommodating, you can find our members planning, collecting food from donors, cooking meals, plating and serving food and delivering the hot meals or food packages to organisations as well as individuals.”

Upon arrival at the historic, five-star property the volunteers were treated like royalty, dining on the finest china, helping themselves to an all-you-can-eat buffet in addition to servers making the rounds with some 13 options of well-seasoned and portioned meats prepared in the Brazilian-styled barbecue restaurant or churrascarria.

“The Garzarolis continue to support the network and we are so pleased that they gave us the opportunity to fellowship in such a beautiful setting,” Mr Smith said of Enrico and Anna Maria Garzaroli, founders of Graycliff.

In the nearly three years since BFN has been distributing food and funding to feeding centres in the Bahamas, the programme has donated more than $350,000 to its 110 partners with the aid of public and private contributions.

Despite its work, the need only grows, said Mr Smith.

“In a rich country like The Bahamas, one in every seven to eight people goes to bed hungry. That is why we are also dealing with more lasting solutions to feeding, including backyard farming programmes in several areas.”