By Demion McTair. Updated 1:49 a.m., Tuesday, June 23, 2020, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Kingstown St. Vincent (ONE NEWS SVG) – Some 5,000 ‘Love Boxes’ were distributed to 3,500 families across St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves said in Parliament on Monday (June 22).
The boxes contain mainly ground provisions.
The “Love Box” initiative by the government is mainly to assist families and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boxes are distributed through Churches and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
These groups identify persons in need and distribute to them.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar says the ‘Love Box’ initiative has benefited hundreds of local farmers, whose produce were bought to pack the boxes.
These farmers who have been affected by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have been able to receive revenue through the initiative, the minister says.
Similar initiatives where boxes of locally grown food were distributed to citizens were carried out in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) territories of Dominica and St. Lucia.
The governments of both OECS countries spearheaded the initiatives as a COVID-19 response measure.
