KIND partners with French Embassy for food project

Kids In Need of Direction (KIND), a needs-based organisation dedicated to supporting underprivileged children, is partnering with the French Embassy for its Plant What You Eat Initiative, a collaborative effort aimed at empowering and transforming lives of children and families in communities nationwide

KIND said it is excited to collaborate with the French Embassy, a staunch advocate of sustainability and community development, as this partnership reflects their shared commitment to fostering a healthier and more self-sufficient future for communities. By engaging children and families in the cultivation of their own food, this initiative will provide long-term solutions to food insecurity while promoting the values of self-reliance, thus contributing to the improvement of social and environmental conditions one family, one community at a time, a media release said.

The aim of the initiative is for families to learn how to plant a home garden and possibly, even be a source of income, enabling participants to have activities such as produce sharing, green market days and community food fundraisers.

At the workshop, participants learnt valuable tips through KIND’s locally-produced videos whilst each family received a KIND Starter Kit containing at least 15 different types of seeds and seedlings, including chive, celery, parsley, hot pepper, thyme, corn, tomato, melongene, patchoi, cabbage, ochro, cucumber, soil, seedling trays and a set of hand tools.

KIND’s implementing partner, Microbes Alive, also presented at the workshop on the role of microbes in soil and its usefulness in guaranteeing bountiful produce. BreadfruitTrees.com was also on hand to distribute breadfruit trees to participants.

The PWYE Initiative was held at the Rotary Club Community Centre on July 8, whilst the Police Youth Club and St David’s Primary School which included the community and was held on September 6. On both days the training and distribution were well received with enthusiasm and participation from the families and community leaders in attendance, the release said.

KIND is 24-plus-year-old, non-profit organisation based in the heart of Laventille and provides assistance where it matters to disadvantaged children and their families across Trinidad and Tobago. It focuses on the holistic development of at-risk children and their families through programmes, such as the KIND Mind Initiative (KMI) which develops core competencies in literacy, numeracy, social education and wellness; the Acts of Random Kindness Initiative (ARK) that inculcates a KIND Mind in thinking, speaking and doing while actioning kindness for others; the Emergency Food Relief Initiative (EFRI) which began in March 2020 to assist those low-income families who could not survive during the pandemic.

For more info: visit Facebook @ Kids In Need of Direction (KIND) or on Instagram @ kind_tt, www.kindkid.org or call 494-5046.