Nurses reach out to the needy

Chris Bodden, Gleaner Writer

HANOVER:Members of staff of the Lucea Health District of the Hanover Health Department have undertaken an initiative to assist persons in need in Lucea and its environs.

The initiative includes the provision of care packages, as well as hot meals to families who are in need.

"This is the project of the team members that function in the Lucea Health District. They are giving back to the communities they serve. Every month we contribute to a food box, so to speak, for three months, and at the end we identify needy families to contribute to. We purchase food stuff and toiletries to give to the needy," Marcia Lewis-Grant, Public Health Nurse in charge of the Lucea Health District, told Western Focus.

"In other words, every quarter we will target seven needy families within the health district and present them with these care packages. We work in the communities, and we see the needs that exist there, so this is just our way of letting these people know that there are others that still care about them and their welfare," she continued.

On Tuesday, members of the Health District distributed care packages to seven families in the town, and on Wednesday, also undertook their feeding programme, which included the serving of hot meals.

"We contribute to the fund from our own pockets; we do not get or seek sponsorship. Every member of staff contributed to the fund, and it was a wide cross section of individuals as well, such as doctors, community health aides, public-health nurses, registered nurses and registered midwives, public, health inspector, as well as nursing students," Lewis-Grant said.