Tank-Weld gives to communities
Published:Thursday | December 24, 2020 | 12:07 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Tank-Weld has brought Christmas cheer to 2,000 Jamaicans across several communities, with grocery and toiletries.
“It came at the time when I needed it most,” said Nora Thompson, a resident of Rio Bueno in Trelawny.
Thompson has one son who usually sends money from abroad to support her, but she has not heard from him for the past four and a half years.
“It’s rough on me. I usually do a little sewing, mostly uniforms, but since COVID that has dried up,” she told The Gleaner.
The 68-year-old shared that she is grateful for the charity extended to her by Tank-Weld and some of her loyal customers whom she has been sewing for since they were attending basic school.
Rio Bueno office manager, Audrey Crooks, said approximately 100 packages were donated to the community. The remainder were distributed in Water House, Majesty Gardens, Seaward Primary School and Montego Bay.
Crooks explained that principals, police officers and other stakeholders were critical in assisting the company to identify the beneficiaries.
HELP TO THOSE IN NEED
“The packages were given to people who are disabled, the elderly, shut-ins, those in dire need, in addition to the persons that we were aware of,” she said, adding that families whose incomes have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic also benefited.
“They were very happy. Tank-Weld contributes a lot to the community generally so when we went out, they were very familiar with us and they were very thankful,” Crooks said.
She recalled that on a distribution day, the team came across an elderly man who was not listed and they offered him one of the packages.
“He was so thankful as he was just going down to the shop...He said ‘I’m so hungry right now’. He opened the package, took out crackers and a tin of sausage and started eating right away,” she shared.
Tank-Weld boss Bruce Bicknell told the Gleaner that the Christmas donations are an extension of a project the company completed in July, when another 2,000 bags were distributed.
“Each bag has about 20 items – rice, flour, sugar, cornmeal, sardine, corned beef, sausage, saltfish, ramen noodles, crackers, tissue, cooking oil and supligen, among other items,” Bicknell detailed.
He noted that Tank-Weld has been operating in Jamaica for 50 years and it was fitting for the company to give back in this way, particularly because of how COVID-19 has made families vulnerable.