Pastor Mary Wildesh-Reece.(L) - Photos by Sheena Gayle

WESTERN BUREAU:

In an effort to help a multitude of persons through charity, one church in Montego Bay, St James, took a bold step last Saturday to provide clothes, food and medical care for more than 1,000 persons in the Second City.

The initiative by the Meeting Place church received an overwhelming response from the public, according to Pastor Mary Wildesh-Reece.

"I went on a fast recently and the Lord told me that we need to extend ourselves more to the poor and needy. It was through that revelation that we, as a church, organised ourselves into making this initiative a success," she said.

As crime and economic crisis grip the country tighter, she argued that the Church has a role to play in providing real solutions.

"We believe that it is time for the sleeping giant called the Church to wake up in Jamaica. It is time for the Church to rise up; it cannot be business as usual for the Church.

"God has a solution to what is going on in the society," Wildesh-Reece said in an impassioned plea.

Persons received free medical care, food, clothes, beauty care and HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. The cost to organise this drive was close to $1 million, the pastor told The Gleaner.

Donations

The cost was offset by members of the congregation who donated clothes and service for the day. The food bill, a whopping $500,000, was eased by donations from church members, the Indian community and Jamaica Broilers.

"Every single donation went to the poor. I was honestly shocked at the level of support we got from the members of the congregation who I would like to congratulate for their efforts in ensuring that persons less fortunate than ourselves are able to cope another day in these trying times," she said.

Wildesh-Reece said she hoped to host the charity event regularly and is appealing to corporate Jamaica for help.

sheena.gayle@gleanerjm.com

These volunteers were busy providing haircare last Saturday at the Meeting Place, where more than 1,000 persons were fed, clothed and offered medical care at no charge.