SDA church targets 40,000 meals to help ease hunger in Jamaica

The Jamaica Union of Seventh-day Adventists is aiming to provide meals for up to 40,000 Jamaicans who go hungry each night as part of efforts to combat food insecurity across the island.

Speaking during World Food Day celebrations at the Port Maria Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Mary on Tuesday, Union President Everett Brown said the church’s community services department is leading the initiative through its islandwide network of congregations.

“We believe as a church that we should not only share the gospel with the people. We believe that people’s needs should be addressed. And hence in our communities … in our churches, there are a number of persons who goes to bed without food,” Brown said.

Moderate to severe food insecurity

The prevalence of severe food insecurity in Jamaica is higher than the Caribbean average, according to a recent Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The report, compiled with several partner agencies, found that 55.1 per cent of Jamaica’s population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity between 2021 and 2023, while 29 per cent of respondents said they went an entire day without eating in the 30 days before the survey.

Brown said this year’s World Food Day, observed October 16 under the theme ‘Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future,’ provided an opportunity to raise awareness and build partnerships to fight hunger. As part of the observance, the church distributed more than 24,000 cooked meals across its five conferences between October 14 and Tuesday.

“We believe that we must do our part and that’s exactly what the Bible teaches,” Brown said. While acknowledging that the church cannot tackle food insecurity alone, he said it remains committed to doing its part to assist the less-fortunate.

Citing statistics from 2021, when the SDA church launched its food bank, indicating that more than 400,000 Jamaicans go without food or go to bed hungry each night, Brown said the church has “decided to see how best we can address 10 per cent of that figure by providing meals to them.”

‘God-given responsibility’

According to Brown, the Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in not only feeding those in need, but also encouraging others to share with the less-fortunate.

“We believe that as a church we should partner with others in providing food for them. So this is what it is all about – to go into the communities, sharing food with the most vulnerable, and sensitising persons to share with those who do not have. So it is about awareness and practically feeding people,” he added.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has about 340,000 members worshipping in more than 730 congregations across five conferences islandwide, will use its extensive network to support the feeding effort. It spent $35 million to provide food packages to the indigent last year.

“What we need to do as a church is to do what we can do. And if others do what they can do, we will achieve the goal of feeding most of our vulnerable. And the issue is that it is not only our civic duty, but it is our God-given responsibility. The need is great, and yes, it is a challenge, but as the remnant church, we have to lead from the front,” he said.

The North East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists also donated Gerber products to the Annotto Bay Hospital to assist newborns and their mothers during its recent World Food Day celebrations.

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