RC church in Penal provides hot meals, hampers to Venezuelan migrants

About 200 people in Penal and environs received hot meals on Friday from members of the Legion of Mary in an ongoing project to assist needy families during the coronavirus pandemic.

The group, an arm of the St Dominic’s RC Church in Penal, visited the families and distributed meals to Venezuelan migrants and locals.

"This is our third distribution since we started. We have 20-plus members and we decided to do this once every Friday. We know where to go to find people who need the help," said a member who requested anonymity.

The church has been actively involved in helping migrants as well as nationals even before the pandemic.

Co-ordinator of St Dominic’s Parish Ministry for Migrants and Refugees (PMMR) Daniel George said the church received food supplies on Friday from the Living Water Community (LWC) in Port of Spain.

While hampers were being distributed at LWC’s Frederick Street base, he was busy packaging hampers for distribution on Saturday.

"With the help from LWC and parishioners, we have prepared over 300 food hampers since the pandemic for migrants and locals," George said on behalf of PMMR.

"Vidalis Bakery has been giving 20 quarts of bread daily. They have been very supportive. Some parishioners bring pre-packaged hampers. We are grateful for the help from everyone."

The recipients are from communities in Barrackpore/Platanite, Penal Rock Road and Morne Diablo.

George said, "We have also been able to help with rentals of a total of $25,000. Some landlords are putting out the migrants. They give notice today for tomorrow. The migrants leave because most are illegal (immigrants) and do not understand the concepts of TT laws."

Parish priest Fr Robert Christo told Newsday the church is working on an agricultural project to encourage people to sustain themselves. Land at Morne Diablo has been identified.

"Marcus Mycoo, a guru in agriculture at the University of the West Indies, will be a part of the project. He will be doing workshops, evaluations and monitoring."

Anyone willing to help with the initiatives can contact 607-HOPE (4673).