Update on activities of the NGOs Together Group
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos (19 June 2020) – Early May 2020, several local charities came together to form “NGOs Together” in an effort to pool resources through funds, volunteers and knowledge and with a goal to provide help to those in need during this COVID-19 crisis in the Turks & Caicos. Since then, we have been working tirelessly to assist as many people as possible.Our objective is to collectively provide assistance without discrimination to those most vulnerable and impacted during these unprecedented times. Working on a first come first serve basis to persons who submit a request for assistance via telephone or electronic form, the group has held weekly distributions to those registered.
To date the group has purchased over $35,000 of food, which has been distributed to 1,618 families in Providenciales (Five Cays, Kewtown, Downtown, Blue Hills, the Bight) and North, Middle, and South Caicos.
Food parcels are assembled with the utmost care, with recipients’ safety foremost in our minds. Our operational procedures ensure that our sorting location is fully sterilised and all volunteers strictly adhere to food handling safety guidelines. The food parcels are voluntarily given, and voluntarily received.
As well as food parcels NGOs Together has also been collecting food bank donations, re-usable masks, and distributing food vouchers.
We are extremely grateful to our community for its generous support at a time of such uncertainty. As separate charities we each rely on donations from the private sector and individuals to fund our initiatives, and this group is no different.
Despite phenomenal support so far, our funds are limited due to current economic conditions however we continue to look for new initiatives and fundraising opportunities so that we are in a position to distribute even more food packages to families.
With growing requests for assistance and referrals from government departments and private sector alike, we currently have approximately 1,500 more families awaiting support. As this number increases and in light of our limited resources, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend the request forms until 2 July, when we hope to have raised enough funds to resume the purchase and distribution of food.
To those who have registered, please be patient, we know how long you have been waiting for help and we are trying our very best to get to you as soon as is reasonably possible.
At this time, we wish to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported the initiative and encourage those who are in a position to donate to one of the NGOs Together charities, to please do so as every dollar helps.
Let us all continue to do our part and lend support to those in need.
Contact the group on + 1-649-348-9015 or +1-649-242-4570 or NGOsTogetherTCI@gmail.com
Press contact: 649-231-1454