Hope for Easter miracle

The Easter season in Jamaica may pass without the release of a single non-violent inmate through Food For The Poor’s (FFTP) long-running prison ministry – a stark departure from a tradition that has reunited hundreds of families and offered hope to those trapped behind bars simply because they couldn’t afford to pay a fine.

Since 1998, FFTP has secured the release and reintegration of hundreds of non-violent offenders in Jamaica and other countries at Easter and Christmas. Unable to pay the fine to secure their release, the charity pays it for them.

However, up to Holy Thursday – the traditional start of the Easter holiday weekend – no local beneficiary had been identified this year, FFTP disclosed yesterday.

“The [FFTP] team, in partnership with prison officials, has not been able to identify any non-violent offenders whose fines have not already been paid,” the charity said on Friday in response to questions from The Gleaner.

It said this could be the result of less non-violent offenders being sent to prison or more family members coming forward to assist them and pay the fines.

However, Food For The Poor said the search for potential beneficiaries will continue.

“With there being more days before Easter comes to a close in 2025, we will remain in discussions with the various prison officials to identify if any non-violent offenders will be in need of assistance,” it said.

It is unclear if this would be the first time in nearly three decades that FFTP’s prison ministry has not been able to secure the release of a non-violent offender at Easter.

Since the start of the prison ministry programme, 743 men and women have been released from local prisons after their fines were paid by the charity organisation, according to its website.

A total of 8,250 ex-inmates across the island have also benefited from FFTP Fresh Start Programme, which assisted them with equipment and tools to engage in profitable businesses such as welding, auto mechanics, carpentry and farming.

RESCUED FROM ‘HELL’

Steve Sanderson, who was released from the high-security St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre during the 2023 Christmas season, praised Food For The Poor for rescuing him from “hell”.

Sanderson, 47, who operated an aluminium fabrication business, was imprisoned on October 4, 2023 to serve a nine-month sentence because he could not afford to pay the alternative punishment – a $200,000 fine.

He was convicted for the offence of fraudulent conversion after failing to return the 50 per cent deposit he collected from a customer who changed her mind about the job she hired him to do, he admitted.

Seventy days inside the high-security prison exposed Sanderson to unprecedented violence such as stabbings, a brick “like those old building materials” being used to bash another inmate’s head and an inmate getting his head bashed against a grilled gate.

“Prison is hell! It’s like a war zone; it’s nerve-wracking and every week there is bloodshed. I could get very graphic,” he told The Sunday Gleaner during an exclusive interview after his release in December 2023.

“You can be the most prudent Christian and you lose your life violently in there and you don’t have to do anything wrong,” he said.

“I lost my life savings in Cash Plus, I lost my dad in 2019 to cancer…I’ve had a lot of hard times and sad moments and all of them combined wouldn’t compare to being in prison. That’s the best way to describe it.”

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com