World Water Day: Food For The Poor Provides Clean Water in the Bahamas
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 18, 2020) Many residents of Grand Bahama and Abaco still struggle to get access to clean water, more than six months after Hurricane Dorian flooded its well fields with salt water.
But as nations observe World Water Day on Sunday, two purification units are providing relief and purifying as much as 4,000 gallons of clean water a day each, thanks to Food For The Poor’s generous donors.
Water Mission, one of the charity’s partners, has installed two reverse osmosis units in Green Turtle Cay and Treasure Cay in the Abaco Islands. Two more units are being installed in Pelican Point and McLean’s Town on Grand Bahama.
Dwayne Reynolds, Food For The Poor’s Bahamas Project Manager, said as reported by leaders in the community, the two units are serving as many as 2,000 people in each community. The number is expected to increase as more people move back to their homes.
“Trucks are distributing water to residents who can’t come to the location,” Reynolds said.
In addition to providing clean water, Food For The Poor has sent critically needed aid such as food, cleaning supplies and basic everyday hygiene items as it also collaborates with partners to help the people of the Bahamas rebuild their homes and their lives.
Since 1993, World Water Day has been scheduled on March 22 each year as a means of focusing attention on the importance of clean water and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
For the poorest of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America, access to clean water is virtually non-existent. Thousands of families in the countries served by the charity need safe, clean drinking water. On Grand Bahama and Abaco, saltwater contamination is a reminder that Hurricane Dorian changed life on the islands.
In 2019, Food For The Poor installed 148 water wells.
And with the help of Water Mission, the charity installed five water filtration units last year for a total of 191 water filtration units since 2008. Each unit purifies and chlorinates up to 10,000 gallons of water a day.
Since 1998, the organization has completed 2,606 water projects.
“Food For The Poor understands the vital importance of providing access to clean water,” Food For The Poor President/CEO Ed Raine said. “It is because of our wonderful donors that we’re able to provide these communities in the Bahamas with safe drinking water and make a huge difference in people’s lives as they continue to recover.”
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned and abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]
