The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ellembelle Constituency, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has initiated and launched a food bank to serve the aged and needy in the Ellembelle District as a means assisting them during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The food bank, an idea of Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, a former Minister of Petroleum in the last administration, would be managed by faith-based organisations and traditional leaders in the District, and is open to donations.
The food bank, which was launched last Friday, is managed by an eleven-member committee drawn from faith-based organisations and traditional leaders in the District, and the objective is to provide relief for all people, especially the aged, struggling to obtain food, and act as a central warehouse to store and preserve food.
The committee has the mandate to ensure efficient operation and management of the bank, and ensure the fair distribution of food items to the beneficiaries without regard to colour, gender or political affiliation.
The food bank has a mobile vehicle that will supply food to the needy and the aged in the District on a daily basis provided there was food in the bank.
It is a result of this that the bank is open to receive donations from people to stock the bank with food so that there would be daily supplies of food to the target audience.
Launching the food bank, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah described the initiative as historic, in the sense that this was the first time such an initiative had been established in Ellembelle and the country.
This isn’t the first time the Ellembelle MP has established such an initiative for the benefit of the people in the area.
His first initiative was the establishment of a center to take care of the aged in the district. Dubbed ‘AYA’ Recreation Center, it feeds the aged and is also for recreation.
Continuing, MP Armah Kofi Buah explained that he initiated the food bank in order that “when all things are not working we can turn back on the food bank.”
It is as a result of this, he further explained, that the bank would be receiving donations from people in and outside the district who share in his idea and vision to provide food for the aged and the needy to contribute.
He said, considering Ghana Health Service statistics that 1.5 million people go to bed without food, the number could increase particularly in this period where the world has been plagued by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Kwasi Bonzo, who was present during the launch, lauded the initiative.
He consequently donated a sum of GH¢1,000 as his contribution to stocking the bank with food. Other traditional leaders and chiefs also donated towards the initiative.
The Area Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Osei Korsah, described the idea and initiative as good. “We are so much enthused by this vision in times like this.”
The Church of Pentecost likened the establishment of the food bank to the biblical Joseph, adding that out of COVID 19, a food bank had been established.
Apostle Korsah added, “in times like this, it takes a big head to conceive big ideas.” For conceiving such a big idea, Apostle Korsah did not mince words when he told the Ellembelle Legislator “you have shown that we did not send you to Parliament in vain.”
Apostle Korsah, however, advised all and sundry to embrace the idea because the pandemic does not discriminate on political lines. “Each individual has a role to play to make this vision great.” The food bank will begin by feeding a total of 1,500 needy and the aged, with the Legislator distributing food to the beneficiaries in different communities.
The post Ellembelle Legislator launches food bank …To stem hunger among the aged and needy during pandemic appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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